<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>To save an effing German by schofieldelicate</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376474">To save an effing German</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/schofieldelicate/pseuds/schofieldelicate'>schofieldelicate</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>1917 (Movie 2019), blakefield - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempt at Humor, Blake is in gay panic 24/7, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, bilingual Scho, blake's heart is very big and he's a baby, no canon, smooth scho, smut in later chapters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:06:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,984</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376474</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/schofieldelicate/pseuds/schofieldelicate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which William Schofield is a German pilot who crashes right into Tom Blake's heart. literally.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tom Blake &amp; William Schofield, Tom Blake/William Schofield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>195</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. bloody insane</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>new fic and I am excited! I have written the first couple of chapters already and I think they get better (hopefully)! The first one was hard bc I didn't really know how to get into the "ViBe" but let's give it a go :)</p><p>this starts at the barn after they pull the german out of the plane except that the German is now pretty Scho</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m not going to help you save an effing German!”, Miller screams, looking at the German pilot with a frantic expression. The man is shuddering in pain and Tom runs to him, quickly kneeling next to him.</p><p>“It’s okay, we’re going to help you”, Tom speaks softly, giving the man a little smile and looks back up to Miller, who is still standing a couple of feet away, his arms crossed.</p><p>“We can’t just let him die”, Tom yells, praying that the pilot does not understand a word of English. Hearing people discuss if they should kill you right in front of you does not seem like a fun experience to Tom, especially when you're already in pain. And when you don't deserve to die. Blake and Miller just pulled the German pilot out of a burning plane and now Miler wants to let him pass away? That wasn't very kind, Tom thinks, lowering his gaze again and giving the pilot his full attention. He’s trembling and Tom quickly takes off the man’s helmet, placing it carefully on the grass.</p><p>“Yes, we can! We’re at war, Blake - men die”, Miller answers dramatically, taking a couple of steps back. But Blake doesn’t look up, merely brushing his hand through the man’s damp hair. He hears something crashing behind him: it must be the barn that was completely destroyed by the crashing plane. </p><p>“Can you get me some water?”, Tom asks, looking down at the man. There is a scared expression on his face and he is breathing quickly, his eyes are closed. He needs water - to drink and to pour on his wounds, Blake is sure of that. </p><p>“No, we should shoot him”, Miller responds, grabbing his rifle instead. The man shudders at these words, looking extremely small and so alone in this world that Tom feels the need to protect him. Without thinking about it, Tom leans over the man’s body, protecting him from Miller. There is no point in killing the poor pilot, his wounds aren’t bad at all and he hasn’t done anything to hurt them. It could just as well have been Tom in his place, and Tom would definitely want to live.</p><p>“Whatever, you’re bloody insane”, Miller groans, putting down his rifle after having pointed it at Blake and the soldiers for a long moment. Tom lets out a relieved breath but keeps leaning over the man just in case Miller decides to shoot him anyway. He can feel his blood pressure running high, his thoughts swirling. Maybe Miller is right; maybe they should just shoot him and get to the 2nd Devon’s as quickly as possible and save his brother. But Tom feels the man’s body heat and he’s painfully alive - Tom can’t just give up on him. </p><p>“I’m going back to the 8th. You’re nuts, you should've never picked me to join you on this stupid mission”, Miller spits out, startling Tom.</p><p>“You’re leaving?”, Tom gasps, looking up to Miller in disbelief. But the dark haired man has his arms crossed, a closed-off expression on his face.</p><p>“You'd rather play nurse for some German than save your own men. You’re insane-“</p><p>“We have more than enough time to save him and my brother!”, Tom interrupts him, but Miller shakes his head.</p><p>“I’m telling Erinmore the war has gone to your head. Good luck”, Miller speaks and with those words, he turns around, walking through the orchard filled with cherry trees that they crossed moments before.</p><p>“Miller!”, Tom screams, feeling lightheaded. He can’t just leave him, there is no way this isn’t illegal-</p><p>“Miller!”, he screams again but said man doesn’t even react, continuing to walk at a fast pace.</p><p>“He’s not coming back”, the man on the grass speaks, making Tom look away from Miller to him. His voice is soft and calm and there is a little, sad smile on his lips that makes Tom feel a bit better. The man can still smile, which is a good sign. For example, it means that he is still alive. And he seems to be doing better than a couple minutes ago.</p><p>“Yeah…”, Tom replies, letting out a loud breath and shakes his head. Well, there is nothing he can do about Miller now, can he? Tom sits back up straight, rubbing his eyes. There is no time to dwell, he has to focus on the wounded soldier now. After all, he brought this all on himself.</p><p>Tom looks down at the face of the German, taking in his features. He’s beautiful, Tom realizes. He has soft, sandy hair, and very delicate facial features as if God took all the time in the world to perfect his face. His eyes are of a milky blue color and Tom slowly raises his finger, touching his cute, narrow nose ever so lightly. </p><p>“What are you doing?”, the German grumbles and Tom immediately lifts his hand, a sheepish expression in his face. </p><p>“I was trying to check your temperature”, Blake answers, the German raising his brows. </p><p>“On my nose?”, he chuckles and Tom can feel his cheeks heat up - why did he have to blush so easily? - quickly shaking his head. </p><p>“My mistake, we weren’t taught a lot about medicine”, Tom quickly replies, laying his hand softly on the German’s forehead. It’s damp and hot, but Blake decides that it’s the extreme heat from the airplane crash. It’s probably too early for him to have a fever, right? Tom removes his hand, murmuring a couple of swearwords under his breath. He should have listened during his first aid classes instead of telling his friends some stupid jokes.</p><p>“I’m going to get you some water and we are going to patch you up!”, he announces, throwing off his kit. Maybe Miller was right, saving Germans was definitely not their job in the war. But, as Tom’s mom always says, Blake’s heart is so big that it barely fits into his chest, giving love and affection to any person who will accept it. And Tom promised Joe to not let the war change this about him - that he would stay true to himself. And helping the poor man is definitely what pre-war Blake would do. </p><p>After picking up his helmet from the grass, Tom hurries to the fountain, quickly pumping it full with water. The water is dirty - nearly of a brown color - but it will have to do. </p><p>“Here you go”, Tom speaks softly as he sits back down next to the blonde soldier, balancing his helmet in his left hand. </p><p>“This might hurt but we need to get all the dirt out of your wound”, Tom explains, looking at the German’s leg. The wound is just over his knee, quite small and Tom can see the red flesh, making him feel dizzy. But it isn’t very large, which makes Tom feel confident. He can handle this type of wound. There are also a couple of other scratches on his elbow and hands but it doesn’t seem too bad.</p><p>Carefully, Tom grabs his knife from his pocket, cutting away the man’s trousers. </p><p>“Why are you helping me?” Tom raises his gaze, looking at the man’s face. He’s very pale, but Tom decides it’s probably the man’s natural complexion. And as he lays here, in the mud, hurt, Tom can’t bring himself to see him as a German - an enemy. He’s just a man who desperately needs a bit of help. A very handsome man for that.</p><p>“No one deserved to die”, Blake answers, putting his knife back safely in his pocket, earning a chuckle from the blonde man. </p><p>“Tell this to our leaders”, he laughs, shaking his head. Tom decides to ignore his statement, staring at the wound. The war has a purpose, it <i> has <i> to have one. The queen wouldn’t send her people to die for nothing, right? And if not, then he'll worry about that later and not right now.</i></i></p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom picks up his helmet, pouring the water carefully over the wound. The German winces, grabbing Tom’s hand and lets out a loud groan. Tom calmly brushes his fingers over his palm, enjoying the feeling of the German’s hand a little too much.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Verdammte Scheisse!”, he screams and Tom looks at him, just now realizing that the man had been speaking in perfect English to him all this time. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Why do you speak English so fluently?”, Tom wonders - on one hand to distract the man from the pain, on the other due to curiosity. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“My mom is... English”, the man winces and Tom looks down, confused. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“And you decided to fight for Germany?”, he answers, disgust written all over his face and removes his hand from the pilot’s. Why would anyone fight for the bad side? Maybe he shouldn’t save this man’s life after all, but it’s not like he could change his mind now.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I was born in Germany. I don’t even have the British citizenship and as for the fighting, it’s not like I had a choice”, the man grumbles, closing his eyes. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I had a choice. I joined the war to make the world a better place”, Tom explains, pulling his kit to his side and looking through his pockets. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Killing men is making the world a better place?”, the soldier mumbles and Tom bites into his lips. He isn’t wrong, the war was not what Tom expected it to be. It often seems like no one has a plan, just destroying the beautiful countryside and traumatizing people - turning the world into a colorless haze. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I am saving your life right now, aren’t I?”, Tom quickly replies, earning a little endearing sound from the pilot. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“That’s true... and I thank you for that”, the blonde man answers, leaning himself up on his elbows, looking at Blake thoughtfully. His gaze is slightly questioning, but all in all friendly and calm. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I’m William Schofield, by the way”, he says after a while and Tom looks up from the wound to the beautiful man. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Will. Schofield. Scho. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>It sounds right. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I’m Tom Blake”, he replies whit a large grin, smiling from ear to ear. The German lets his head fall back into the grass, laughing lightly. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom knows that saving the man’s life will bring him more trouble than order, but as he wraps the bandage around the man’s thigh and sees his soft, calm expression - Tom decides that all the trouble in the world is worth it for saving a life.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I think we should leave. ‘Get you some actual help”, Tom decides after giving William some water, who nods in agreement.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Can you give me a hand?”, the blonde man replies, and Tom smiles widely, nodding enthusiastically.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Of course.”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom helps William get up and as soon as William is stable on his two feet, Tom gets pushed against the wall of the little cottage. Tom gasps loudly as he notices a knife barely touching his throat and Schofield towering over him.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Fuck.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Maybe saving someone’s life wasn’t worth all the trouble in the world after all.</i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. stupid knife</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tom tries to convince Schofield to spare his life which is harder than expected since Schofield's hands are really big and it's clouding Tom's mind.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>first of all thank you all so much for all the sweet comments and kudos *Heart emojis* (I’m on my mac so I cant use emojis hehe) I definitely did not expect such a positive response and it warmed my heart so much!!!! I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint too much</p><p>Seartha decided to draw Tom and Scho’s interaction and I thought I’d post the link here because it’s so cute!! https://searttha.tumblr.com/post/619282711589322752/sooo-blakefield-enemy-au-from-to-save-an-effing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Scho!”, Blake chokes, looking between the very pointy knife and Schofield’s beautiful face. Schofield’s eyebrows are furrowed and he places his other hand on Tom's hips, pushing him against the wall.</p><p>That’s it. This is how he will die, Tom realizes. Throat slit open by an effing German. Blake tries to decrease his respiration rate, but it’s hopeless: his sympathetic nervous system is working at high speed. He can feel his mouth dry up, his heartbeat rocket, and his fingertips tingling.</p><p>He’s going to die in the war, which - to be fair - Tom knew could happen. Thousands of men lose their lives on the battlefield every day. But to die because he tried to save a German, <em>a freaking German</em> - and that’s how he repays him?</p><p>“Thank you for helping me”, William says awkwardly after a moment, the sharp knife still touching Tom’s porcelain skin.</p><p>“And your way of thanking me is to put a knife in my throat?”, Tom replies, the fear loud and clear in his voice. Fuck, Miller is right - the Germans are evil. How the hell did he end up in this stupid position?</p><p>“Yeah, sorry about that”, William responds, patting Tom’s waist lightly and Tom hates himself for enjoying the feeling a bit too much. He’s about to get stabbed, the size of Will’s hands on his waist really should not matter right now.</p><p>“Don’t get me wrong, I like you. You’re nice”, William says, biting into his lower lip, his gaze on Tom’s lips. Or at least it looks like it to Tom. Tom decides to glare at him.</p><p><em> “Nice”?</em> Schofield settles for a mere “nice” after Tom carried him out of a burning plane, shielded him with his own body so that he wouldn’t get shot and practiced medicine on him although he can’t stomach blood? Tom decides that he is a freaking war hero and Will should definitely call him that. Not “nice” while pressing a knife against his throat.</p><p>“But you’re still my<em> enemy</em>, technically“, William puts a dramatic emphasis on the word, moving the knife lightly that Tom can feel the cold edge on his throat and winces quietly. He can practically see the blood run down his neck, make out the metallic taste in his mouth.</p><p>“And I really don’t want to be a war prisoner”, he adds and Tom can’t help to chuckle humorlessly. Maybe this should have been his plan, Schofield deserves it. And Miller would probably have agreed to that plan and he’d still be here and not on the way back to Erinmore to tell the General that Tom is bat shit crazy.</p><p>“I was not planing to serve you on a gold platter to my General”, he replies and William opens his eyes wide, looking utterly confused. The knife is still on Tom’s neck but Tom feels the pressure of the blade against his skin decreases a little bit.</p><p>“Then what the hell were you planing to do?”, the blonde man asks quickly.</p><p>“As I said, help you”, Tom says and closes his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. A couple of weeks ago, he and some other lance corporals made a little fire, swapping stories from their lives before the war. A man, Smith, said after a couple of beers, that Tom would probably die because of his kindness. Back then, Tom had laughed but right now, he wants to scream. He should have just stayed at home with Myrtle.</p><p>“Really?”, Will replies and Tom nods, angrily to say the least.</p><p>“I don’t know about Germany, but in England, we help the people in need”, he says with a sassy tone and a little smile ghosts over Will’s lips.</p><p>“We’re in France.”</p><p>“Whatever”, Tom replies and Will bites into his lower lip. His eyebrows are still furrowed, but not as a sign of determination. He looks thoughtful, lost even.</p><p>“But you said you wanted to go get me real help-“, Tom interrupts him, exhausted from this stupid, little game:</p><p>“And you assumed I’d just bring to a hospital of the British Army? I’m not that stupid, that would put me in danger too.” Will pouts his lips and Tom looks back down at the knife. Tom can feel himself calm down, oddly. Schofield won’t kill him, Tom is pretty sure of that. Schofield’s expression is too soft and too worried to be able to do such thing. His cheeks are slightly flushed, his pupils dilated and Tom can feel his hand on his waist tremble.</p><p>“Are you really planning to kill me?”, Tom asks exasperated and Schofield swallows loudly.</p><p>“Not anymore”, he says barely audible and Tom slowly raises his hands, putting them on Schofield’s chest. His chest is so hard. Gosh, he must be so muscular- Tom forces himself to change his train of thoughts, looking into William’s eyes. He really needs to learn how to focus on important things.</p><p>“So can you please remove the knife from my throat?”, he demands and Will stares back, not moving the knife one inch.</p><p>“Not really because now that you know I’d kill you, you’re probably going to kill me the first chance you get.” Tom can’t help himself and rolls his eyes. This man seems to have deep trust issues. But Tom can’t blame him, they were practically taught in Bootcamp to trust no one, especially not a random soldier from the country you’re trying to win a war against.</p><p>“I’m not going to kill you. I want to help you”, Tom says calmly, looking at the blade, “although the longer you press this stupid knife against my skin, the less I’m going to want to help you.”</p><p>“Fair enough”, Schofield replies and removes the knife from Blake’s throat, simultaneously pinning both of Tom’s hands over his head against the stone wall. He does it so easily, with a single hand. This position forces Schofield to move even closer and Tom can feel his hot breath fanning his skin. He much prefers that feeling to the stupid knife.</p><p>“Okay, so what’s the plan?”, William asks after a moment and Tom nervously bites his lips.</p><p>“I was thinking you could help me with that”, he mutters, causing Schofield to sight loudly. When Tom said he’d help, he was thinking about giving him another bandage. Maybe bringing him closer to a German checkpoint, he does have incredible map reading skills. But he certainly did not mean saving him from the war. However, William is pressing him against the wall and can easily grab his knife again, which is why Tom decides to change his plans and do whatever Schofield wants.</p><p>“I mean you speak English perfectly, so infiltrating you into the British Army would work.”</p><p>“What the fuck am I going to do in the British Army? So you were planning to bring me to your General!”, the blonde man yells, moving one leg between Tom’s. Tom closes his eyes and tries to concentrate. He knows that William is holding him that way to stop Tom from hurting him or running away, but it isn’t helping Tom’s mind at all.</p><p>“Well, I actually I wasn’t planning anything! I thought we could discuss the matter as civilized people would!”, Tom bites back instinctively. He knows he probably shouldn’t - he can see the knife in Will’s pocket - but Tom can’t help himself. He never knew how to tame his tongue.</p><p>Luckily, it doesn’t seem to anger Schofield. On the contrary: Schofield stares back, confusion and shame behind his eyes.</p><p>“Where do you want to go?”, Tom manages to say, looking back up to Schofield’s face. He looks contemplative, pursing his lips.</p><p>“Do you know where the Germans are stationed?”, he asks after a moment and Tom breathes in sharply.</p><p>“Yeah, next to Croissiles Wood. But on the other side of no man’s land, not the side we are going to.”</p><p>“Why are we going there?”, William asks immediately and Tom bites his lips bloody. How should he say that he has to go stop an attack against Germany - that they were most likely going to lose - to a German, who probably wants them to lose?</p><p>“We are going to stop an attack”, as soon as Tom sees William’s expression, he adds:</p><p>“To save my brother’s life.”</p><p>“Oh”, William gulps, furrowing his brows again.</p><p>“Yeah. So I have to go. You can’t stop me”, Tom decided to make it clear but Will barely reacts.</p><p>“Wasn’t going to”, he whispers and all of a sudden, Tom feels the grip around his wrists being released. Will takes a step back and winces in pain, quickly leaning himself against the wall next to Tom. Forever too kind, Tom quickly turns to him, a concerned expression on his face.</p><p>“Are you okay?”, he asks and the blonde man chuckles, pressing his hand against his forehead as he slowly slides down the wall and sits down.</p><p>“You are too kind for your own good”, he replies. Tom slowly crutches down next to Schofield, putting his hand on Will’s shoulder.</p><p>“That’s what everyone keeps telling me”, Blake answers, brushing his hand through Will’s hair. Will smiles lightly at the touch and all the rage and fear inside of Tom’s tummy gets replaced by tiny, fluttering butterflies. That was quick.</p><p>“No, seriously, you are. You’re a public danger to the British Army. I’ve just had a knife on your throat and here you are,<em> petting</em> my hair”, Will tries to reason Tom but fails. Tom can’t help it. He’s always felt love and compassion much stronger than the average bloke. And, on top of that, he also has a tendency to forgive people before they even finish pronouncing the word “sorry”. Or in Will’s case, before he even attempts to say it.</p><p>“It’s not like you had much of a choice. We are living in crazy times and it is understandable that you would react this way”, Tom answers softly and Will scoffs.</p><p>“Miller was right. You are bloody insane”, he states, but there is a fondness in his voice that Tom hears loud and clear. He snickers quietly and places his hand back on Schofield’s shoulder.</p><p>“So what about we save my brother and then we find you a way back to your Strudel eating friends?”, Tom speaks calmly, giving Schofield a soft smile.</p><p>There really is something wrong with him. But Tom can’t help himself, he likes William Schofield. He is pretty nice, pretty funny, and just simply pretty. And the knife incident was bad but Tom can’t find it in himself to blame him. Miller did try to kill him too, after all. And spending time with Schofield just sounds much more fun than running back to the 8th and back into the dirty, depressing trenches.</p><p>“Strudel is Austrian but yes, I’d like that very much”, Will replies, simpering slightly and looks down at his bandaged wound and back to Tom.</p><p>“Can we start from zero again? And forget my foolish actions that included a stupid knife? It wasn’t my finest moment and I am truly sorry”, he asks softly, using Tom’s expression. Tom nods, sitting down cross legged next to Schofield. He forgave him as soon as the knife stopped touching his skin, but it feels nice to hear the apology either way.</p><p>Will holds out his hand. Tom takes it, feeling his soft skin, and shakes it.</p><p>“William Schofield”</p><p>“Tom Blake”</p><p>Tom smiles fondly and scoots closer to Schofield, sitting down more comfortably. This is going to be fun, now that they are on the same page, Tom thinks, taking out the map from his breast pocket.</p><p>But alas, nothing is this simple and especially not an alliance between a German pilot and a British lance corporal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the slow updates! I have so much to study and so little brain cells but I’ll try to be quicker once exams are over and I can focus on my babies again</p><p>comments as always very appreciated &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. army knowledge 101</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>the boys are trying to get to the 2nd Devon's but they don't get very far. There is also some more pressing against the wall because Will seems to like it and Tom doesn't mind</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Me adding houses into the 1917 landscape where there aren't any? more likely than you think hehe</p><p>also sorry for the late update! exams have been crazy and I hope this doesn't disappoint too much</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Map says we get over that ridge and it’s a straight shot to Ecoust”, Tom explains, showing Schofield the map. The blonde man leans over it and nods absently, giving Tom a little smile.</p><p>“Lovely, I can’t wait to discover the French countryside”, he replies and Tom isn’t sure if he is being sarcastic or not, so he decides to ignore his statement. It’s not like they have any other choice right now. This is the war, after all.</p><p>“So, are you ready?”, Tom asks instead with a big smile as if he’s trying to motivate a whole battalion to run over no man’s land for no real cause at all. But William does not return Tom’s enthusiasm and looks down at his leg.</p><p>“My leg hurts but sure”, he replies, making Tom bite his lip. Fuck. With the whole knife situation and the emotional rollercoaster it brought with itself, Tom has nearly forgotten that William is hurt. He quickly steps closer to Will, examining the wound once more. Tom still doesn’t understand anything about medicine, but he knows that Schofield’s leg is going to hurt for a long time, so there is no point in waiting. Nevertheless, there might be a way to decrease the pain a little bit.</p><p>“One second!”, Tom yells and he gets up, getting a confused look from Schofield. Tom just gives him a smile, he’ll understand it in a minute and runs towards the orchard. The blossoms are still beautifully blooming as he enters the small orchard, standing still between two cut down cherry trees for a moment. He breathes in deeply, letting himself enjoy the calmness and forget about the war for a short moment. Somehow, it smells like home. Tom closes his eyes and lets himself bask in the memories. Like this, Tom can nearly hear his mother in the kitchen baking a cherry pie and Joe urging him to pick the cherries at a quicker pace.</p><p>Tom opens his eyes. He isn’t at home. Mum is, but he isn’t and Joe definitely isn’t either. And he has to make sure that Joe gets the chance to go back home. Quickly, Tom pushes the painfully sweet memories away, letting his gaze wander over the branches and crutches down, picking up a long branch. The branch is quite thick and straight, which will be perfect for Schofield. Tom breathes in deeply one last time and leaves the orchard behind, walking back to the pilot.</p><p>“Here! For you”, Tom beams as soon as he stands in front of William, throwing the stick towards him, who quickly catches it. Will looks at it a bit confused and then decides to rip out some grass with the hand that isn’t holding the stick. Tom has no idea what he is trying to do, but he looks at Will in complete awe. He’s just so pretty.</p><p>“For you, Tom!”, Schofield replies in the same tone, holding out his hand to Tom. Now it is Tom’s turn to give Schofield a puzzled look. He takes the grass nevertheless - Tom is polite, after all - and asks:</p><p>“That’s very kind of you but why are you giving me grass?”</p><p>“I thought we were gifting each other plants”, Will laughs and Tom can feel his cheeks heat up, quickly dropping the grass.</p><p>“No! It’s a walking stick! So you can walk and feel less pain”, he explains and William laughs even harder. It is a beautiful sound, William has a very melodic, deep laugh and Tom definitely wants to hear it more often. But not right now because it seems like Will is laughing at him.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I must still be a bit out of it”, Schofield chuckles after a while, looking at the stick. A weight lifts from Tom’s heart and he giggles sweetly.</p><p>“It’s a bit embarrassing because I study medicine and wasn’t even able to think about getting myself a stick”, Schofield adds a few moments later and Tom can’t help but be impressed. Medicine? That’s a handful. One of Joe’s childhood friend’s moved to London to study medicine and Joe had told him how the whole floor of his apartment was covered with books.</p><p>Having said that, Tom can’t help but think that medicine fits William quite well. He doesn’t really know him - actually, not at all - but Schofield does seem like a smart, caring man, and Tom would trust him with his life, even though Schofield just tried to take it.</p><p>“Maybe I should study medicine too. I clearly have a natural gift”, Tom jokes instead and Will smiles, brushing his hands through his sandy hair.</p><p>“If you manage to keep me alive for the next 24 hours, then you should go for it”, he replies and holds out his hand again, this time without any grass in it. Tom takes it and helps Schofield up, stabilizing him with a hand on his waist. William winces and lets out a short breath and Tom decides to keep his hand on his waist, looking at him with a concerned expression.</p><p>“Do you think you can manage?”, he asks softly and William gives him a little smile.</p><p>“Yes, of course. Let’s go”, he says with a brave face and Tom lets go of his waist, takes a step back. Will smiles again and takes a small step forward, holding the stick tightly for support. And another one. He isn’t the quickest, but his speed is decent. Tom quickly picks up his kit, helmet, and rifle and follows Will around the house. Tom catches up quickly, giving him a little wave to get his attention.</p><p> “So medicine? That’s grand”, Tom says, giving William his usual, bright smile. He never knew how to be quiet, not even in the war, but Schofield doesn’t seem to mind.</p><p>“It is. I had to stop after my first year because of the war but I love it”, William answers, a sad smile on his lips. Tom feels a sudden burst of sorrow in his heart; the war took away so much from their generation. Tom himself didn’t leave any dreams back home, or at least not really. Nevertheless, others did. Joseph postponed his marriage, Will had to stop medical school and even Miller mentioned a few weeks back that he had to sell his grocery store before being drafted.</p><p>“You’ll be back in no time! Reading about things I never even heard of”, he cheers him up, patting him lightly on the shoulder. Will just shrugs in response, looking at Tom with earnest eyes.</p><p>“I don’t think I’ll get to go back home”, he answers, quickly looking away.</p><p>“Yeah, you will! You’re a fighter! You survived a freaking airplane crash”,  Tom contradicts, making the older man laugh dryly.</p><p>“You’re right, and I only survived because a private from the army I am fighting saved me. This might be a miracle”, he jokes and Tom giggles quietly. This is definitely not an event that happens very often during war times.</p><p>“Please, I’m a lance corporal”, he corrects Will, giving him a little wink. William seems to reply a snarky comment that includes something about him being a pilot, but Tom isn’t listening anymore. There is a brick house in front of them, maybe 50 yards away.</p><p>Tom can feel his pulse increase again and he narrows his eyes. The house looks abandoned, but Tom is not about to trust his gut feeling with his life.</p><p>“We have to look if someone is here”, Tom speaks, frowning his eyebrows as he approaches the brick house.</p><p>“Why would we do that?”, William scoffs in response but follows Tom closely behind. After all, he’s the only one with a rifle; Will just has a stick of wood to support himself. </p><p>“You always have to check the area”, Tom replies, looking at William for a split second before focusing on the house again. “That’s like army knowledge 101. What do you learn in Germany?”</p><p>Will chuckles at that, pointing at a golden pin on his uniform. Tom quickly throws a glance at it, having not noticed it before. It slightly bent and dirty, but Tom can see the delicate carving of an imperial eagle with spread wings.</p><p>“I’m a pilot and we just fly, we don’t check if there is a bird behind every cloud”, Will sasses, clearly proud of his higher distinction, and Tom can’t help but roll his eyes.</p><p>“Hm. Maybe you would not have crashed straight into a barn if you would have been a bit more careful”, Tom replies playfully and climbing over a tree trunk blocking the road. He carefully takes Will’s hand, helping him over the trunk. Whoever did this is a bastard, Tom decides.</p><p>They finally arrive in front of the house and Tom breathes in deeply, slams the door open. He hurries into the house, his rifle already charged, and looks around. It’s dark - very dark - Tom can barely make out anything. Slowly, he steps forward, feeling Will’s hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“Do you hear this?”, William whispers, his voice trembling.</p><p>“What?”, Tom breathes. He can’t hear anything and right now, he has to focus on his mission. It’s so dark, someone could easily be hiding behind a piece of furniture and shoot them down any second.</p><p>“Tom!”, Schofield hisses and Blake’s blood starts to boil. Can he just let him concentrate for one minute- Tom opens his eyes wide. He can hear it. A roaring sound, getting louder and louder.</p><p>“Trucks!”, Will whisper-screams, the fear clear in his voice.</p><p>“And they have to stop because of that tree trunk blocking the road!” Tom can barely swear before Schofield presses a hand against Tom’s mouth, pushing him back to the darkest corner of the house.</p><p>“Jesus. They don’t make things easy do they. They could at least have retreated with a bit of grace. Bastard”, a rather British voice can be heard. Tom feels his back hitting the wall and Will hovers over him, sternly.</p><p>“You better don’t say a fucking word!”, Schofield whispers into Tom’s ear, pressing him against the wall. Tom can feel his heartbeat speed up, his mouth go dry and his body shaking.</p><p>This company will inspect the house. Checking the area is Army knowledge 101-</p><p>“Cooke! Get the fuck up and check if there’s someone is the dwelling!”, the same voice orders sternly.</p><p>“Sure, Cap’”, another voice speaks, clearly lacking interest in the matter and some metallic clatter and loud mumbling can be heard. Tom widens his eyes, staring at William in front of him. This is it. It’s over for them- William seems to be reading his thoughts because he presses his large hand even firmer against Tom’s mouth.</p><p>“Fuckin’ bastard. Why can’t he do this shit himself?”, the same, bored voice speaks and the door creaks open. Tom can’t see the man but he can hear his footsteps. He seems to be walking to the other side of the room and sights loudly.</p><p>“There’s not even a bloody rat here.” The man whispers to himself and he walks back to the door but stands still and doesn’t open it. Tom has the suspicion that the soldier - Cooke? - is doing so to pretend that he is looking everywhere in the house. Thank God that half of the British Army is lazy. Or maybe he heard them breathe and is trying to locate them?</p><p>“All good, Cap’!”, the man yells all of a sudden and Tom flinches, nearly dropping his rifle. But Cooke does not seem to care - or hear - his movement, opening the door again.</p><p>“Not a fuckin’ soul like in the rest of this shit hole”, Cooke adds, stomping out.</p><p>“Good. Hop on”, the voice from before answers. Again, there is some shouting and clatter, and then engines roar and Tom breathes out deeply. Will keeps his hand on Tom’s mouth until there is absolute silence; Tom is pretty sure he can hear a leaf rustling in the wind.</p><p> “Jesus, that was close”, William exclaims, removing his hand and leaning his head against Tom’s shoulder. Then he looks back up, breathing out loudly. Tom nods lightly and Will raises his hand, slowly brushing it over Tom’s cheek, making his skin tingle. </p><p>“That could have been my end. You would’ve saved me for nothing”, Will laughs, finally taking a step back and Tom feels as if he can breathe again. William has a tendency of pressing him against walls - not that Tom is complaining.</p><p>“I’m glad I didn’t waste my bandages on you after all”, Tom replies with a little smirk, taking a step and leaning out of the tiny window. He can still see the trucks in the horizon, feel the fear inside his bones. It would have probably been his end too as he is helping the enemy escape.</p><p>“Tom”, Schofield says softly and he turns to him.</p><p>“I don’t know how to thank you. You have already done much more for me than any other person would”, he continues, stepping closer to Tom. Tom can feel his heartbeat increase again and he swallows loudly.</p><p>“Well, last time you thanked me by pressing a knife against my throat, so I’d rather you not thank me”, he jokes and Will chuckles, running his tongue over his lips.</p><p>“That’s fair, I guess”, he laughs but doesn’t move away. He moves his hands but stops midway - coughing loudly.</p><p>“So Tom, do you have a bird back home?”, he changes the subject easily, giving Tom a small, innocent smile.</p><p>“Um, no. I was barely eighteen when I left for Bootcamp”, Tom replies, confused why he is asking him this. Maybe William is married and is thinking about his wife. That’s what people apparently do when they barely escape death.</p><p>“That’s young”, William replies slowly, turning away from Tom and moving to the window. He peers through it and Tom just stares at him, unable to move.</p><p>“So you never had sex?”, William asks nonchalantly and this time Tom chokes loudly, quickly looking away. </p><p>“Oh gosh, I’m sorry that was a bit direct. My apologies”, Will quickly mutters, a concerned expression on his face. Tom forces a smile, shaking his head in response.</p><p>“No wife, no girlfriend, no sex”, he chuckles and Will nods, looking back out of the window.</p><p>“I’m sorry for asking. I definitely miss it”, he replies and Tom widens his eyes. He shouldn’t be surprised - a lot of men are married and why would exactly the hot, German pilot be single? Some German girl probably put a ring very quickly on his finger and Tom can’t blame her, he would have done the sa- Tom stops himself mid-thought. He can’t seriously be thinking about <i> that <i> after knowing the man for ten seconds!</i></i></p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“You’re married?”, he replies instead, trying to sound casual but failing miserably. Will scrunches his face in response, picking up Tom’s rifle from the floor and handing it to him.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Oh no. I just miss getting off”, he laughs and Tom nods a little too frantically. He has to get his emotions under control soon because if not, this time with Will would be really awkward.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Fair”, he gasps and William smiles, moving to the door.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Are you ready?” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom nods and follows Schofield out of the abandoned house, wondering how many more times William and him will barely escape death before the sun sets.</i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this is pretty terrible, I know, especially the first half but I still hope you enjoyed it </p><p>as always, comments are very appreciated 🥺🥺</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Impress me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tom can’t really handle Will and that’s about it. There also is some shooting.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I would like to thank Schofield for forcing me to repeat basic anatomy</p><p>Warning below In the end notes!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Can we take a break? I’m hungry”, Schofield says and stops walking, leaning himself on his walking stick. Will's face is a little red and he looks up to Tom, a little pout on his lips. His sandy hair is flat on his forehead and he gives Tom a tired smile.</p><p>“I don’t know, do you see a pub?”, Tom replies sarcastically, which makes Will roll his eyes. He raises his hand, pointing to a couple of trees not too far off. It does seem like a lovely stop to take a break. There is shade and if they walk far enough into the trees, no one will be able to see them. Not that there are many people in the area anyway - Cooke was right - there is no soul in this shithole.</p><p>“Don’t you have anything to eat in your backpack? What do you even carry around?”, Will asks with a bewildered expression but curious nevertheless. Tom can’t help but be surprised by Will’s lack of knowledge. Schofield is a pilot, but a pilot of the German Army after all.  Didn’t he at least learn the basics?</p><p>“Everything. Some spare clothes, grenades uh”, Tom looks over his shoulder, “salt and pepper. Yeah, just about everything!”</p><p>“Nice, that’s quite convenient”, Schofield replies, slowly nodding his head in approval. Tom laughs lightly.</p><p>“It’s quite heavy, though”, he answers, motioning to Will to walk towards the trees. Will is right. They need a little break to catch their breath and Tom needs some food in his tummy. Watching Miller eat that piece of bread with ham earlier definitely didn’t decrease his personal hunger. </p><p>A couple of hundred yards away from the road, Will looks up between the trees, sitting down. He winces lightly but smiles as soon as there seems to be no pressure on his leg. Tom awkwardly sits down next to Will, giving him a hopeless smile. Will needs to rest, it’s obvious and Tom hates that he can't do anything to lessen Will's pain..</p><p>Tom takes off his helmet and kit, looking through his pockets. He doesn’t have much, but the general did give him some dry cookies.</p><p>“Here you go”, Tom says, throwing a little box of biscuits at Will, who catches it with eager eyes.</p><p>“Thank you”, William replies kindly and Tom takes out his water bottle, observing William as he opens the little package. He immediately grabs a biscuit, biting into it heartily. As soon as he starts munching the biscuit, a grimace forms on William’s usually delicate face.</p><p>“You English people really don’t know how to make good food”, he speaks, looking at the cookie in his hand with a disgusted expression. Maybe Tom should be hurt by Will’s words but he can’t bring himself to be. William looks way too cute while saying those words like a spoiled, little child.</p><p>“On behalf of the whole English Army, I excuse us for not catering good enough food for your upper-class taste buds”, he laughs instead, making Will smile lightly.</p><p>“You should be. I need my Champagne and foie gras”, Will replies with a little pout, biting into the cookie nevertheless. Tom quickly grabs himself a biscuit too, enjoying the sweet taste in his mouth. It doesn’t taste like a lot, but there is a buttery texture, reminding Tom of mom’s baked goods back home. They both eat a second cookie in silence and Tom drinks some water, looking back at Will. His eyes are closed and the sun is shining on his pale face, making him look awfully young and innocent. His hair and eyelashes nearly look golden in the sun, reminding Tom of an aristocrat he saw in his history book back home.</p><p>Tom sits up, looking at Will with big eyes. He’s never liked silence.</p><p>“Scho!”, the man opens his eyes, giving Tom a little smile and waiting for Tom to go on.</p><p>“You should teach me some medicine”, he says, crossing his arms over his tummy.</p><p>“And why would I do that?”, Schofield replies, looking as if he wants to close his eyes again. But Tom is curious and he wants to learn more - about Schofield or medicine, both are fine.</p><p>“To impress me”, Tom challenges him, a grin ghosting over Will’s lip.</p><p>“To impress you? Haven’t I already done that with my charm?”, he answers easily and Tom bites his lip, looking at the grass. He did but Tom is not about to give him that satisfaction.</p><p>“Not really. It’s rather the contrary since all I know about you is that you can’t really fly a plane”, Tom replies with a little smirk. William raises his brows but sits up straight nevertheless.</p><p>“Well, I can’t have you look down on me, can I?”, Will speaks, scooting closer to Tom. And here is that feeling again. That feeling deep inside Tom’s tummy that grows bigger and bigger and nearly overspills when the pilot comes too close to him. Is there a remedy against it?</p><p> “Exactly! Teach me some medicine! What do you remember?”, he answers instead trying to focus on something else but the feeling in his tummy. Maybe Schofield’s eyes? But they are so blue and pretty- this is definitely not helping.</p><p>“Um maybe some muscles in Latin”, William says after a moment, nodding his head. His nodding movement gets stronger and he licks his tongue over his lips.</p><p>“Yeah, I remember basic anatomy”, he says louder this time, with more conviction. </p><p>“So show me. Impress me”, Tom repeats. Will scoots closer with tense expression and all of a sudden he’s so close to Tom and Tom nearly forgets how to breathe. Oh. So he’s going to show him the muscles on himself? Tom did not expect this, but he certainly does not mind it either. </p><p>“So, um, your musculus palmaris longus starts here”, William tentatively raises his hand and touches Tom’s inner elbow ever so lightly.</p><p>“On the medial epicondyle of the humerus and the antebrachial fascia”, he explains and Tom opens his eyes wide, staring at Will. He could be saying anything right now, Tom has no clue about the human anatomy, but when William says these words in Latin… It just sounds so good and Tom decides he would let William trace out every muscle on his body any day.</p><p>“And it goes to your palmar aponeurosis. Actually, not everyone has this muscle. 14% of the population is missing it”, he explains and Tom nods, seeing Will’s fingers slowly move down from his elbow along his skin.</p><p>Will slowly touches his palm and Tom looks down and - oh - Will’s hand is so much bigger than his, he could engulf his hand so easily and hold it tightly. And that’s exactly what Schofield does. He lays his hand on the back of Tom’s hand, slowly folding his fingers. </p><p>“A lot of muscles are involved in this simple movement. You have the musculus flexor digitorum profundus and the digitorum superficialis”, his fingers delicately graze over Tom’s thumb. </p><p>“Your thumb alone has three muscles involved in this flexion”, he explains but Tom is barely listening, hell, he isn’t even breathing. Schofield’s hand fits so perfectly on his and he’s so incredibly warm - Tom nods forcefully. </p><p>“Sounds great.”</p><p>“It is”, Will replies with a little smile, leaning over Tom ever so lightly. From this angle, Tom can admire Schofield's side profile even more and whew, Will really does have an adorable nose and his skin looks so soft. Tom has to use all his willpower to not raise his hands and touch his face. Maybe he can pretend to check his temperature later.</p><p>“Do you have a favorite muscle?”, Tom asks all of a sudden and wants to slap himself on the forehead. What type of question was that? Should he ask if Will has a favorite organ, too? Tom hopes that Will doesn’t mark him down as crazy because he needs those large hands to keep on tracing out muscles on his skin. But Will doesn’t seem to mind the question, nodding in response.</p><p>“Yeah, of course, the musculus glutemus maximus”, Will replies with a cheeky smile, his hands now on Tom’s waist.</p><p>“What’s that?”, Tom asks and Will smirks even brighter, his hands moving a little further down and Tom is about to faint. </p><p>“The ass”, he replies nonchalantly, staring at Tom’s bum intensively and Tom chokes on his breath. </p><p>“Oh”</p><p>“Yeah”, Will smirks smugly, his fingers moving a little up from Tom’s waist, following his curves. Tom stares at William, his strong hands on his waist being the only thing holding him together. He can feel his cheeks heat up. Will has a tendency of saying things like <i> this <i> in such a normal tone, as if it were completely normal to talk about Tom’s bum with Tom. Well, William never mentioned Tom’s bum in particular, but his eyes definitely told a different story.</i></i></p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Will’s hands softly touch Tom’s neck, feeling like petals of roses and bringing him out of his thoughts and back to the present. Schofield’s hands graze up to the back of Tom’s head, twirling Tom’s locks between his fingers. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“And these muscles, the superior oblique of head, the rectus capitis posterior major and minor make it possible for you to look up to me and let me enjoy your pretty face”, Will says calmly, brushing his fingers through Tom’s silky hair. Tom is not as calm, not by a long shot. This man is going to be death to him. And not just because Tom saving Schofield and helping him escape is probably a criminal offense. Simply because of William’s ways. He can’t just walk around, touch him while speaking all smart and hot, call him pretty and not expect Tom to fall apart? </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom is not strong enough for that. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Barely breathing, Tom looks up to William, loving the soft smile on his pretty, pink lips a little too much. He’s looking at him with such a gentle expression, his gaze going from his eyes to his lips-</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom chokes, looking everywhere but William’s face. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I think we -we should leave, my brother’s waiting for us to save him”, Tom slurs, and William immediately pulls away. His soft expression vanishes and he swallows loudly. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah- sure I mean-he doesn’t know yet but true”, he replies inarticulately, quickly creating some distance between him and Tom. Tom can feel the blood rushing back to his brain and that is a good thing, but at the same time, he really wants William’s large hand back on his skin, roaming his body in such a delicate manner, as if Tom were made out of porcelain. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Tom picks up his kit, shaking his head to himself. This break was supposed to let them catch a breath but it definitely did the contrary to Tom.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“I’m ready”, Will says after a moment, still a hint of a smirk on his lips and Tom nods, quickly looking away. His cheeks are probably still rosy. As he follows Will back to the main road, Tom can’t help but wonder what Will thinks of him. Does he enjoy taking his breath away or is it maybe something more? Tom rolls his eyes at his own thoughts. As if. Will might not be married, but that does not mean that he is like Tom and even if he is like Tom; why would he be interested in him? He’s just a British farm boy and Will - Will is so much more.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Hey, Scho! Where are you from?”, Tom asks, quickly walking to Schofield.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Germany?”, Will replies with a confused expression, making Tom roll his eyes.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“No, like, in Germany”, he clarifies and Will's lips form a soft oh.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>“Hamburg! My family has a manor there”, Will replies, holding his stick firmly. His gaze moves from the street to Tom’s rifle and he adds:<br/>
“I used to go hunting with my dad every weekend.” Tom raises his brows, fairly impressed. So he was right earlier: Will is like <i> classy <i> classy.</i></i></i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“You know how to shoot?”</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m quite decent”, Will exclaims, his eyes lighting up at the thought and Tom grabs his rifle, handing it to Will.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Maybe you should take it because I am shit at aiming”, he laughs and for some reason Will’s cheeks gain a bit of color as he quickly shakes his head.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“No… I haven’t used a gun since joining the army”, he explains and Tom puts the rifle back over his shoulder. He’s about to comment on how this statement is quite nonsensical, but Will taps his shoulder instead.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Look a bridge!”, he says excitedly and Tom narrows his eyes.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“The bridge is down, though”, he speaks, quickly getting out the map from his breast pocket. His eyes fly over it, trying to locate their standpoint. Tom looks a little closer and grins brightly.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“That’s Écoust!”, he yells, pointing at the village just behind the bridge. Or rather, what is left from it. The closer Will and Tom get, the more Tom realized that this little town, that was probably once alive and colorful, has no soul left. There are no people, no sounds, just broken down houses. Will swallows loudly, quickly looking over his shoulder to Tom.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Do we need to cross here?”</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Yes, I think so”, Tom replies, folding the map neatly, stowing it away. He leans over the edge of the water, looking at the bridge. They are probably going to get wet.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Well, um, I’ll go first”, Will replies not too enthusiastically, looking down at his legs as he tentatively climbs onto the metal balustrade. He pulls a face as he lifts himself up and Tom immediately gives him a hand.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“You alright?”, Tom asks and Will bobs his head, slowly raising his body. Tom hands him his walking stick and quickly climbs up behind William. As William takes his first steps on the balustrade, Tom throws a glance at the town. It’s still on fire and too quiet for Tom.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Scho”, he says and Will hums, taking another step and winces. The pain Will must be feeling; Tom doesn’t even want to imagine it.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Do you need help-“ </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>CRACK</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Tom!”, Will yells turning around to give him a frantic expression. Tom stares back with just as much fear, but quickly points forward, the inner soldier in him gaining conscious. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Go!”, Tom screams in response. It takes a moment for Will to understand but then he takes a couple of big steps and jumps, swinging himself under the bridge.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>CRACK</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Another shot, landing right behind Tom in the water. Tom looks at the water, his heart rate doubling, his mouth drying up. A couple of inches to the left and Tom would be dead-</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Tom, fucking jump!”, Will shouts and Tom takes a wobbly step. He feels lightheaded as he takes a deep breath and jumps onto the other side of the bridge.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>CRACK</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Will grabs his hand, pulling him under the bridge. His hands roam over Tom’s body, looking at him with a concerned expression.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“You fine?”, he asks, trying to sound calm but Tom can hear the fear in his voice. Will might be one of the bravest people Tom has ever met, but this would be too much for nearly anyone.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Tom presses his hand against his forehead, closing his eyes for a moment.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Yeah, I think so”, he answers after a moment, and Will nods, quickly walking below the bridge and looking out carefully on the other side. He studies the lock house, his eyes narrowing. Another shot can be heard, sending shivers through Tom’s body.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“There's a shooter on the upper floor. We need to kill him”, Schofield thinks loudly, turning to Tom who is currently walking toward the wall and leaning himself against it. Tom's head is still spinning. He could be dead right now, this was such a close call.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Tom”, Will speaks, placing his hand firmly on his shoulder and forcing him to look to him. Will’s eyes are dark and determined.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Are you genuinely bad at aiming?”, he asks und Tom slowly blinks his eyes, his view being slightly blurry.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“I’m definitely not the best”, Tom replies and Will grabs Tom’s shoulder now, sternly.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Give me your rifle, I’m going to go kill him”, he orders, taking the rifle before Tom can even say a word.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Will!”, he quickly screams, wrapping his fingers around Schofield’s wrist. Tom did not save him for him to run straight into death. This is not how this should go. He quickly takes off his helmet, putting it on Will’s head. William gives him a little smile.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“I’m good at this, don’t worry”, Will replies, quickly laying his hand on Tom’s cheek and patting it lightly.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Just wait here and make sure nothing happens to your pretty face”, Will smirks and turns around. Tom opens his mouth and closes it again. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Bloody hell. Tom really can't handle him.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Your wound!”, Blake tries to reason him, but Will is already running and sliding along the wall. Will crutches down, yelping lightly. He looks up for a second, charging his rifle. Tom can see William take a deep breath and suddenly, Will lifts himself up, shooting once.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>CRACK</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Maybe Will isn’t that great at shooting because the sniper is still shooting back, Tom thinks as he slides down the wall. But now is not the time to doubt Schofield, there is a difference between clay pigeons shooting and actually aiming for at a man. William looks up again and shoots - no shot back. Tom exhales loudly, closing his eyes. Thank God Will is fine. Will shoots once more.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“I’m going to make sure he’s really dead!”, Will screams and runs up the stairs without even looking back.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Will!”, Tom yells, but Will doesn’t seem to hear him, purely focused on his goal. He runs into the building where the soldier seems to be shooting from. Tom widens his eyes, quickly pushing himself from the wall. He feels disoriented but but picks up Will’s walking stick and starts running anyways. He can’t let Schofield take care of this whole situation himself. Tom runs across the open space and-</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>CRACK</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Will!”, Tom screams, opening the heavy door to the building and freezes. Will doesn't respond.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another update!! I hope you guys liked it and I am sorry it’s less light than usually! Exams have been hard :)</p><p>If you want, don’t forget to leave a lil comment!! They make me so happy ❤️💗💞💖💕</p><p>Warning: there is some friendly touching, Will mentions Tom’s bum bc he can but but nothing explicit Yet</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. time to hide again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Will kinda has a big decision to take</p><p>warning: dead people, some parts are lowkey morbid and I’m sorry<br/>also sorry for the length of my chapters apparently I have a lot to say even tho my brain be empty</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! I hope this chapter finds you well :) i am so sorry if this chapter is disappointing and def less light than the last one. Truth is that I have been studying 10-12 hours a day for two months now and I can feel the axons of neurons become unmyelinated haha<br/>to everyone from the discord: i love you guys so much ! You keep me motivated and you're all the best!!!</p><p>special thanks to Alice for sharing her amazing ideas abt pilot scho with me!! I’m shamelessly adding them into my story hehe</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Will!”, Tom screams, running up the stairs and not thinking twice about it. If the sniper is still alive, Tom won’t be breathing for much longer. But he can’t even think about this now, his view going hazy. There was a shot moments ago and Will is not replying. Tom takes two steps at a time, running around the corner and can barely hold back a cry as he notices a rather familiar man laying on the floor.</p><p>“Scho!”, he whisper-screams and quickly looks around, noticing the sniper by the window. His face looks burned, his eyes glazed and empty. </p><p>He’s dead. </p><p>Tom carefully sits down next to William, his heartbeat speeding up. Let’s hope Will isn’t, Tom thinks as he drops the walking stick next to him onto the floor.</p><p>Will’s eyes are closed and his helmet is slightly slipped back, revealing his damp hair. In a now familiar gesture, Tom carefully removes the helmet, brushing his hand through Schofield’s sandy hair. Tom attentively takes Will’s face in his hands, placing it carefully on his lap.</p><p>“Will”, he speaks softly and as calmly as possible, watching Schofield’s chest slowly rise and fall. He’s going to be fine, that’s what breathing means, right? Tom’s fingers slowly graze over Will’s face and neck: there is a burn mark under his left ear and a little scar on his temple. Will survived an airplane crash today and now he’s laying unconscious on the floor of an abandoned house. This day hasn’t been a piece of cake for Tom either but in comparison to Will, his day has been pretty uneventful. </p><p>“Hey Scho, wake up”, Tom whispers lightly, leaning over his face to inspect him once more. Next to the scar and burn mark Will’s skin is flawless, particularly shining. What a noble perfectness, Tom thinks, admiring the delicate slope of Will’s nose. He has such an aristocratic elegance, gentle and virtuous.</p><p>All of a sudden, Will wiggles a little bit, opening his eyes. He flutters his lashes, a lazy smile forming on his lips. Tom leans down closer, narrowing his eyes. He looks surprisingly awake; his eyes are a little bit clouded but his gaze intense.</p><p>“What a beautiful sight to wake up to”, Will says after clearing his throat, and Tom sighs loudly.</p><p>“How do you feel?”, he quickly asks, trying his hardest to ignore Will’s statement as he slowly brushes his fingers over Will’s high cheekbones.</p><p>“Good, it was just the shock of…”, Will trails off, closing his eyes for a moment. As he opens them, all the cloudiness in Will’s eyes are gone.</p><p>“We have to move”, Will speaks decisively again, sitting up and making Tom miss his warmth immediately. Tom furrows his brows.</p><p>“Will, are you okay? What happened? Don’t you want to rest?”, he asks caringly and Will sits upon his knees, gulping loudly. </p><p>“I - Tom”, he starts, his gaze falling on the dead soldier wearing a similar uniform to his. Tom looks at the man too, only noticing now that his rifle seems to have exploded in his hands.</p><p>“We need to go, Tom, I couldn’t kill him. I just couldn’t”, Will tries again, losing his voice midway. Tom quickly moves towards Will, cupping his face carefully. The soldier is dead and Tom doesn’t understand - how is he dead if Will didn’t shoot him? - but Tom knows better than to ask. Will is only human and Tom is sure he could have never killed an English soldier either. Maybe he’ll ask Will later, outside of Écoust.</p><p>“Alright, Scho”, he replies and holds Will’s face for one more moment. Will leans into the touch but shakes his head right after, moving away from Tom.</p><p>“Let’s go”, he speaks, his voice still weak, picking up his walking stick and gives Tom a firm nod. Tom stands up, helping Will down the stairs.<br/>
Schofield needs to rest, it’s obvious but Will is right: they have to get out of here as quickly as possible. Tom opens the door, letting Will out of the lock house and follows closely behind. The village still looks abandoned, thankfully so.</p><p>“We have to cross Écoust to get to the river”, Tom reminds Will, sliding his rifle over his shoulder.</p><p>“Sounds good- oh fuck”, Will replies, his eyes widening dramatically. Tom quickly follows Will’s gaze, spotting a soldier running towards them. And not just any soldier, a German soldier. Not again, Tom thinks, his mouth drying up. Tom looks around himself, his breath hitching. Maybe they can run away and hide behind a broken down brick wall -</p><p>“Hauptmann!”, the man yells, saluting Will. William quickly stands up straight, mirroring his gesture while Tom can barely watch him. Oh. Tom completely forgot that Will is wearing a German uniform. The soldier can’t kill a pilot right? Even though he is hanging out with a British soldier. Tom looks down at the floor: Schofield better don’t say anything stupid. He needs to find a way - and quickly - to make the ground open up and swallow him up.</p><p>“Soldat”, Will replies in the same tone and Tom moves behind Will, trying to hide as much as possible.</p><p>“Was machen Sie mit diesem Tommy? Wollen Sie, dass ich Ihn erschiesse?” <i>What are you doing with this British soldier? Do you want me to kill him?</i>, the soldier speaks, pointing at Tom. Maybe Tom should have learned German in high school because this situation of not understanding a single word is clearly not too comforting. And Tommy? How does he know Tom's name? Maybe Joe is here, he's the only person who calls him that from time to time. Tom raises his gaze, looking around frantically. He needs to run away <i>now</i>. As if Will can read his mind, Will grabs his wrist pulling him closer. It's not a gentle touch, not by the slightest, but Tom understands that Will can't really give him kisses and cuddles in front of a freaking German soldier. Actually, Will never gives him kisses and cuddles but that's definitely a problem for later, if he's still going to be alive.</p><p>“Nein, Soldat. Er hat wichtige Informationen und ich werde mich darum kümmern” <i>No, private. He has important information and I’ll take care of it</i>, Will replies in German and Tom knows this is not the moment to think about this type of stuff, but Will speaking German is nearly better than Will speaking Latin. Or at least just as good.</p><p>Whatever Will seems to have said makes the soldier shut up and he salutes Will once again, running away God knows where. Before Tom can thank the higher forces for keeping him alive, Will quickly grabs his hand, pulling Tom with himself away from the main street.</p><p>“Verdammte Scheisse”, Will mutters under his breath, pushing Tom into the nearest building. Tom barely manages not to fall on his face; it’s rather dark in the narrow room. Will gives him a short, concerned look, quickly leaning his walking stick against the wall and looking around. </p><p>“What did he say?”, Tom quickly asks, watching Will rush through the room towards a little table that Tom can barely make out in the darkness.</p><p>“Nothing important, just the usual”, Will replies half-heartedly, turning on an oil lamp and lighting the room in a golden haze. Tom is about to ask what “the usual” means for the German army but quickly forgets about it as he spots a soldier, laying in the middle of the room on the hard and cold ground.</p><p>“Is he dead?”, Tom's voice goes up an octave and he takes a couple of steps closer, leans slightly over the man. His arms are spread out around him and Tom can’t even see his chest rise and fall. He’s too still, too quiet.</p><p>“Maybe he’s taking a snooze”, Will replies, crutching down next to the man. Tom turns around, a hopeful expression on his face. </p><p>“Really? Are you sure?”, he asks and Will rolls his eyes, softly slapping the man’s cheek. The man doesn’t react.</p><p>“Tom”, is all Will says, all hope dying inside of him. Of course, he is dead. They are in a burning village in the middle of the war, not back at home taking a nap on a sunny afternoon. Slowly, Tom sits down beside Will, studying the man’s face. His eyes are closed, his blonde locks framing his head. He looks calm. Tom hopes he’s in a better place right now.</p><p>“An Englishmen”, Will says under his breath, the sorrow clear in his voice. Tom nods in response, laying his hand on the man’s chest. How did they end up here? The assassination of an archduke, the blank cheque, or maybe he Russian mobilization. Tom doesn’t really know except that it surely wasn’t worth all those innocent lives.</p><p>Tom slowly raises his gaze, watching William. He’s biting his lips lightly as Tom’s gaze falls on his wound.</p><p>“Maybe we should clean your wound again. And change the bandages”, Tom decides to say, channeling his inner doctor and trying to forget about the poor, dead soldier. Will plops down on his bum, making a face.</p><p>“Good idea, it’s just hard to be careful because my pants are literally shredded into pieces”, he answers, looking down at his wound. It sure isn’t pretty. The whole bandage looks red but William wasn’t really supposed to run around with it anyways.</p><p>Tom crawls around the dead soldier and kneels down next to Schofield. He’s right, having shredded pants is not helping the situation and it’s not like Tom has spare pants in his backpack. But wait - Tom looks up to William, an unsure smile on his lips.</p><p>“Scho?”, he asks tentatively and Will lifts the corner of his mouth, looking intensely at Tom with his brilliant blue eyes.</p><p>“Tom?”, William answers in the same tone, making Tom’s tummy suddenly feel a bit weird. But - once again - now is not the time to focus on that stupid feeling. He glances quickly back to the poor man laying next to them, nodding to himself.</p><p>“Why don’t you take his clothes?”, Tom asks softly. He knows it’s vicious, terrible, and entirely wrong. But Schofield is alive and Tom desperately wants to keep it this way; wants to keep seeing these beautiful blue eyes wide and open, not narrowed in pain. And walking around in half burned down clothes isn’t really helping to keep Will save.</p><p>William swallows, his face hardening.</p><p>“Tom. He- He’s dead, he needs to stay at peace or as close to peace as possible and we’re only alive right now because I am in my uniform, I thought we agreed to not dress me up as a British soldier”, William replies, biting his lower lip. He’s right, Tom knows it. But Will and Tom are walking on such a fine line - how can Will even follow Tom to the second Devon’s if he’s wearing a German uniform?</p><p>“I know, Scho. But you can’t keep walking around with your wound in the open air and you definitely can’t walk to my brother wearing a German uniform-“ Tom starts to explain and stops suddenly as Will looks away. Except-</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Tom notices a familiar sense of nausea taking over him, his eyesight becoming blurry. Tom feels as if he’s underwater drowning and suffocating in the skies all at once. There is another choice, a much simpler one. A plan that actually makes sense. A solution that would end Will’s pain to the biggest extent:</p><p>“Except if you decide to stay here”, Tom finishes his thought. His voice sounds itchy and broken but Tom can’t help himself. They are in a town, surrounded by German soldiers. These soldiers can easily help Will, give him medical care, and bring him back to his unit. Tom swallows loudly, closing his eyes. William will leave him here; it’s obvious, why wouldn’t he? Tom did what he had to do; he saved William Schofield, the German pilot, from a burning plane and brought him to his people. He saved William. Tom needs to be happy, he succeeded - but why are tears burning in his eyes?</p><p>Tom angrily raises his hand, wiping away those annoying tears.</p><p>“Yeah, that actually makes the most sense. I’m sorry for even considering this”, Tom tries to laugh off, brushing his hand through his hair. He doesn’t feel like specifying what he means with “this”, Tom doesn’t even know himself. All he knows is that Will leaving him hurts a lot more than it should. He’s a German soldier for Goodness sake! Not a friend, a lover, or any other fantasy in Tom’s head. </p><p>Tom looks at the floor and away from the stupidly beautiful and endearing pilot. If he looks up, Tom might completely burst into tears. He’s always been an easy crier.</p><p>“No”, Will speaks after an eternity, his voice small as if he can’t believe himself for saying these words. Tom quickly darts a look at William. His arms are looped around his legs and Tom takes a deep breath.</p><p>“What?”, Tom asks, not allowing himself to believe his ears or his racing thoughts. Will is answering no to something else, there is no way-</p><p>“No, you’re right. I should ta- take his clothes”, Will says slowly, a confused expression spread over his petal fine facial features.</p><p>“I don’t know these soldiers and there probably isn’t a General here anyways, it’s better for me to join you at the front and find my way back to a bigger army”, Will adds breathlessly, his words nearly slurred. </p><p>Tom widens his eyes. That doesn’t make any sense, they can help him. They are Germans, after all, Blake definitely can’t help Will in the way they could.</p><p>“I’m sorry for being confused, I-“, Will starts but Tom quickly shakes his head.</p><p>“Will, you should stay here, being with me puts your life more in danger than-“</p><p>“Stop thinking, Tom”, William interrupts him, scooting closer and he delicately lays his hand on Tom’s cheeks. His skin is so soft and Tom can feel himself melting into the touch. Tom knows it doesn’t make one bit of sense for William to stay with him - Tom can’t even aim - yet Tom closes his eyes for a moment, enjoying Will’s warmth. If Tom wants to do the right thing, he should force William to stay. It’s the only decision that makes sense, that guarantees Will’s safety. But, maybe for the first time in Tom’s life, Tom doesn’t want to do what is right. Tom wants to be selfish and keep Will at his side for as long as possible, gaze into those deep blue eyes and listen to Will’s witty comments.</p><p>Maybe if he prays a lot and becomes a priest as his mother wants him to after the war, God will forgive him.</p><p>“Alright”, he whispers slowly and opens his eyes to see a soft smile on Will’s lips. There is something else in Schofield’s eyes, a sort of serenity. As if Will knows he didn’t choose correctly but he doesn’t care since right and wrong blurred together into a big, grey mess years ago. </p><p>Tom wants to grab Will’s shoulder and shake him. <i>Why did you choose following me over your own safety? </i> But some things are better left unsaid. Will surely has his reason and Tom doesn’t have to know everything.</p><p>“Time to get me dressed”, Will answers sweetly, removing his hands from Tom’s face and leaning over the dead man. Will starts to slowly unbutton his vest, stripping it off and moves down to open the man’s shoelaces. Tom starts helping William, every moment slow and precise to disturb the resting man as little as possible. Once the clothes are neatly removed, Tom finally takes off his kit, getting out his blanket. The nights are going to feel even colder in the future, but it’s the least the can do. </p><p>Will takes one side of the blanket and helps Tom drape it over the man, covering his face.</p><p>“Thank you”, Tom whispers quietly and takes one more moment to think about the soldier who gave his life for a pointless war before turning back to William.</p><p>“Ready to play doctor again?”, Will says with a cheeky smile, clearly trying to lift the heaviness of the moment. Tom bites down a smile grabbing his water bottle, knife, and spare bandages.</p><p>“Maybe you could actually give me some advice this time instead of just judging me”, Tom replies, carefully removing the rather dirty bandages. It’s really time to change them if Will’ wound isn’t infected just yet, it’d be very soon.</p><p>“Sorry no, I can only name your muscles in Latin, we only learn the actual medical stuff in the third year or so”,  William chuckles while Tom pours water over this leg, watching dirt particles being washed away.</p><p>“That’s smart, naming someone’s musculus whatever really can save lives”, Tom answers drily, making Will laugh again. He seems to have moved on completely from their earlier discussion and Tom isn’t very surprised. Will seems like the type of person to only focus on the moment happening right in front of him.</p><p>“I don’t know, Tom, I think your glutemus maximus could save my life”, Will replies, bold as brass that Tom nearly drops the dressing on the dusty floor. He might not remember a lot from Will’s anatomy crash course but he definitely remembers <em>that</em>  muscle.</p><p>“Will!”, he exclaims, quickly steading his hand and putting the bandage on Will’s wound.</p><p>“I’m sorry”, Will mumbles in response but the smugness in his voice clearly indicating the contrary. Gosh, maybe Tom should abandon Will in Écoust, he clearly forgot that he cannot handle William and his ways.</p><p>Tom secures the bandage, looking up to William who is giving him a cheeky smile.</p><p>“Now get dressed into the uniform of the Army that’s actually going to win the war”, Tom giggles, winking at William. The pilot huffs in return, but can’t hide his smile completely. Tom decides to look away as Will gets dressed to give him privacy. Nevertheless, he has the sudden urge to turn around and a peak a little look. When William pressed him against the wall, his chest seemed so hard and Tom really wants to confirm if Will is actually that muscular. Nothing else, of course. Tom grabs his kit, quickly looking for spare puttees and a shirt. Tom usually gets distracted so quickly, so why can’t his mind stop thinking about shirtless Schofield?</p><p>He throws the shirt behind him, hearing Will catching it and sliding it over his shoulder. It’s quiet for a short beat.</p><p>“Tom, you can turn around, I don’t bite”, William says nearly softly and Tom slowly turns around. William is still buttoning up his - well - Tom’s khaki shirt. It’s a bit small for him but Tom catches a glimpse of Will’s pale chest and oh. He really is that muscular. There are also many beautyspots scattered across his alabaster skin and Tom feels a sudden urge to kiss them. Tom nearly forgets how to breathe.</p><p>“I’ll help you with the puttees, so you don’t have to bend your knee too much”, Tom decides, kneeling down in front of Will as he carefully sits down. Will winces lightly as he stretches out his legs.</p><p>“You’re too kind”, Will answers and it sounds so genuine that Tom’s heart nearly skips a beat. Tom folds the trousers tightly around Will’s lower leg and boot top. The trousers fit Will perfectly, Tom notices.</p><p>Tom grabs a puttee, slowly starting to wrap it around Will’s leg. He takes his time, making sure the wrapping is even to give Will the most stability possible. Once on top, Tom ties a little bow with a double knot and looks up with big eyes to William.</p><p>“Does it feel alright? Did I stop your blood circulation? If it’s too tight, I can start over”, Tom asks nervously, biting his lower lip bloody, but William doesn’t reply. He just looks at Tom with an awestruck expression, as if Tom hung the moon and the stars. His eyes sparkle in the dim light of the oil lamp as he shakes his head.</p><p>“God, what is a sweet, caring person like you doing in a dirty mind like mine?”, Will asks gently, closing his eyes for a moment. Tom feels the heat rushing to his cheeks, quickly picking up the second puttee and repeating the process.</p><p>“Will”, is all Tom manages to say, wrapping the puttee around Will’s lower leg just as carefully as before. Tom doesn’t know what to reply, what to think. He doesn’t want to interpret Will’s word although he can’t help himself but feel a bit of hope spark deep inside him. Tom does not want to know what type of hope he’s feeling.</p><p>“Don’t worry, you weren’t really supposed to reply”, William answers after a while and Tom stands up, trying his best to nod in a casual way. Will does the same, picking up the man’s jacket and putting it on. The soldier was a lance corporal, just like Tom is.</p><p>“Are you ready to run away from the Huns?”, he asks and Will looks at him, smiling carefully.<br/>

“The Hun is ready to run away from Huns”, he replies, looking at the floor. He crutches down and picks up the two rifles, handing Tom his rifle, keeping the dead soldier’s one and grabbing his walking stick.</p><p>“Time to go?”, Will asks, looking down with a sad expression to his half burned down clothes, thrown on the floor carelessly. Tom looks down at them too, kneeling down next to the bundle of clothes. It must be hard to leave behind one’s life, even if it’s only for a moment. He grabs Will’s coat, slowly removing the golden pin and stands back up. Tom opens the first couple of buttons of Will’s new jacket, slowly pinning the golden imperial eagle to the inside of Will’s jacket.</p><p>“Now, we can go”, he replies with a soft grin, patting his hand lightly against Will’s chest. Will quickly puts his hand on top of his, his eyes looking watery. A little smile spreads over Will’s face and he takes a step back from Tom, back into the atrocities of the war.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>scho really has two interests in this fic: 1) Tom’s pretty face 2) Tom’s ass<br/>Scho be like getting back to a German army um what?? Tom’s ass is right here so he might as well stay sfkdhsfj</p><p>also I know  some of you think this going v quickly and rightfully so but I am a hopeless romantic and oh well<br/>Situations like the one our babies are currently experiencing make you grow closer to the person you are with for sure. It creates a bond. Also, this fic is kinda like 1917 in the way that I am just writing out their day and it’s not like I can write yall 57382829 chapters for some actions sksks</p><p>they will talk more abt will's action bc my boy did not explain a lot this chapter</p><p>ALSO i genuinely hate this chapter so if u see me delete and repost something similar just ignore it djsjsj i feel like people are not liking this fic as much anymore and i wanna save it lmfao</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. you little thing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I love how ao3 expects me to write a chapter summary like I can barely think of a chapter title fjdjsj so not today hehe</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello guys sorry for the late update! I'll be in holidays for six weeks now and I should be able to update more regularly (if I decide to bring my laptop haha)</p><p>also I want to thank alice again who helped me figure out the whole story and god I love her!!! I now have quite the structured plan but not completely, so this story might end up being 14-17 chapters long</p><p>this chapter is horrid once again but I guess you guys are used to it now</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Bloody hell! Are these Germans?!”, Tom whispers as he follows Will out of the narrow room. Will quickly turns around, rolling his eyes dramatically.</p><p>“No, they’re <i>Spaniards</i>- Of course they’re Germans!”, Schofield whispers-screams, looking at Tom with widened eyes.</p><p>“And I’m not even wearing my German uniform anymore, so we are fucked”, he continues and Tom can hear the fear is Will’s usually cool, nothing-can-affect-me voice. He carefully takes a step towards him, giving him a little smile. Tom isn’t feeling too confident either, but this is their best bet.</p><p>“It’ll be fine, Scho. The worst thing that can happen is that we get shot”, he jokes and Will tries to suppress a laugh.</p><p>“This was pretty dark for your standards. I think I’m rubbing off on you”, Will answers and Tom raises his brows, getting on his tiptoes to look over Will’s shoulder. There is one soldier on a narrow street but he seems to be looking a different way. Tom moves his gaze to a broken down building across from them. Maybe they can climb through the window into the house and figure out their plan on the go from there. It seems a better plan than staying in front of the door, staring at the German’s back.</p><p>Making plans never works out anyway, that’s the one thing Tom has learned from the British Army and their perfectly planned battles.</p><p>“Let’s go there”, he whispers, pointing at the dwelling. The window is quite high but it’s going to work. It has to. Will gives him a firm nod, pulls his rifle close. Then he starts running. Tom looks at Schofield as he jumps up the window, climbing in easily.</p><p>“Tom!”, he hears Will say his name, and Tom closes his eyes for a moment. The soldier is looking away, everything will be fine. He quickly runs across the dark alley and reaches out his hand. <i>oh no.</i></p><p>“Scho, can you give me a hand?”, he whispers, holding up his arm. The window did look pretty high but God, this is embarrassing but much more than that, this situation could be deadly. The German soldier could turn around any second! But Will seems to forget about the danger of the situation as a grin spreads on his face.</p><p>“Sure, you little thing”, he laughs, reaching out his hand to grab Tom’s. A pout forms on Tom’s lips as William pulls him up through the window.</p><p>“I’m not that small, thank you very much”, he scowls and William still smiles smugly at him, helping him up. He takes a step closer, hovering over Tom and pats him lightly on the crown of his head. Tom is not <i>small</i>, Will is just exceptionally long, Tom thinks, pursing his lips even more.</p><p>“Whatever you say, little thing”, Will smiles, softly ruffling his hair. Tom is about to reply that he is five feet seven (he’s actually five feet six but it’s not like Will can measure him) which is a very acceptable height for a man his age but they’re in a burning village surrounded by the enemy . If they ever make it out of here, Tom will rest his case later.</p><p>“What are we doing?”, he asks instead and Will’s smile grows even wider.<br/>
“I’m calling you little because you <i>are</i> litt-“</p><p>“Scho, focus please!”, Tom interrupts him, giving him a pointed look that Will immediately stands up straight and brushes his hand through his hair. He quickly looks around, a frown forming on his delicate features.</p><p>“Honestly, Tom, I’m not sure. Maybe we can just run for it?”, William answers, peaking through the window. The soldier is standing in the middle of the alley, looking the other way. Tom bites his lower lip. </p><p>„Okay, let‘s go“, Tom answers quickly. As he said before, plans are of no use in the war anyways. Will gives him a thumbs up and quickly turns around, walking through the large room and down the stairs. Tom follows, trying to make the least noise possible. There could be a German just taking a break in the house-</p><p>“Fuck!”, Will screams suddenly and there are some loud rumbling noises and metallic clatter. Tom runs to the stairs and spots William at the bottom of it, his utensils spread all over the floor.</p><p>“Will! Are you okay?” Tom can’t hold himself back to yell and rushes down the stairs. After getting Schofield’s walking stick and rifle, Tom briskly sits down next to Schofield. Said main weakly raises his hand, giving Tom another thumbs up.</p><p>“My knee kind of gave up on me, but I’m good”, he explains, pointing to his leg that is definitely <i>not</i> bent the right way. Tom nods, slightly terrified at the sight - medicine might not be his calling after all - and gives Will a weak smile.</p><p>“Do you think you can get up? I don’t think it’s too safe for us if we just set camp here”, he asks softly and Will immediately props up on his elbows. </p><p>“Yes, of course. I wasn’t about to stay here anyways”, Schofield scoffs but Tom can’t help but hear the tiredness in Will’s voice. He’s exhausted, it’s obvious. Not only is he in pain from the airplane crash and the concussion he got earlier, but it’s been a long day. A very long day.</p><p>Tom's eyes light up as he watches Schofield carefully get up. It is probably an insane idea, but Tom and Will’s journey is only filled with insane ideas and at this point, Tom is ready to risk it all.</p><p>“Will, I know this sounds crazy-“</p><p>“Tom, you don’t have to warn me anymore. I have come to realize that everything you say is partially insane”, Will cuts in, taking the rifle from Tom’s hands. There is a focused expression on his face and Tom holds himself back from saying that William, beautiful, beautiful William, isn’t a bit better than him when it comes to good ideas.</p><p>“Okay, well. I think we should stay here for a couple of hours. Hide in a house, take a break and wait until the Germans leave. They won’t stay here forever, right? There’s nothing in this hell of a town”, he quickly explains, trying to emphasize how staying might be beneficial for them both. Tom has known Will long enough to know he is not going to accept this offer if he thinks it’s to help him recover. The pilot crooks his head, his eyebrows furrowing.</p><p>“But your brother-“, he starts, but Tom quickly waves it off.</p><p>“We have more than enough time. We are already very close to where the 2nd Devon’s are stationed. Maybe one hour - two hours tops - walking from here.” Will closes his eyes for a moment and Tom can nearly see Will’s brain working at high speed, trying to evaluate the pros and cons of the situation. His lips are slightly trembling as he licks over them, making them glister in the dim light of Écoust. It would be an endearing sight if it didn’t make Tom think about other, rather inappropriate things.</p><p>“Yeah. You know what? You’re right”, Will suddenly exclaims, a crazy look in his eyes.</p><p>“Let’s just take a break. If we die, we die. I shouldn’t be alive right now anyways!”, he laughs, nearly hysterically. Tom quickly grabs him by his shoulders, trying to calm William down.</p><p>“Yeah, good! I say we run to the outskirts of Écoust and settle in a house there. They probably care more about destroying the inner city”, Tom decides and Will licks his gorgeous, pink lips again and Tom quickly has to walk away because who knows what he would do if he lets himself look at William any longer. This man just fell downstairs headfirst and still manages to be the most gorgeous person on this planet.</p><p>“I agree. Los geht’s”, Will speaks and walks with some difficulty to the main door. Tom has no clue what Will just said to him - it sounded like German - but he decides to assume it wasn’t too important and he follows Will as he always does; closely behind. After carefully making sure that there are no soldiers, Will runs out and speeds into a smaller alley. Tom nearly falls on his nose as there is debris everywhere but somehow manages to catch himself. He nearly runs into Schofield, who gives him a concerned but also amused look. Tom wants to disappear into thin air. William probably thinks he’s such a nonentity and the worst part is that he isn’t even wrong: Tom is nothing, he’s barely a soldier. And Will is everything.</p><p>“Keep your rifle loaded!”, Will cautions him and Tom drops his irritating thoughts as they run across a bigger street. It’s empty, no soldier is in sight. Thank God.</p><p>“Maybe here?”, Tom mutters and Will shakes his head.</p><p>“They haven’t burned down this part of town yet. They will”, he explains and walks further. Tom looks up the beautiful stone house with a tight feeling in his chest. So many beautiful buildings that carry centuries of history destroyed without a second thought. But sadly, Tom can’t do anything to save the history, he can barely save Schofield and himself.</p><p>Voices and noises get louder as they approach another part of Écoust. It’s lit up, probably by the fire of the burning houses.</p><p>“Be careful”, Will says and stops midway. He quickly raises his hand, barely brushing it over Tom’s full cheeks.</p><p>“I don’t want anything to happen to you, little thing”, he grins and turns around before Tom can reply anything, running toward the burning area. Tom takes a deep breath and starts running, too.</p><p>“Engländer!”, a voice can be heard screaming but Tom doesn’t turn around, just follows Will blindly. Will is right, maybe they should have kept his pilot uniform just in case because it would be useful now, but it doesn’t do to dwell on it.</p><p>Will turns around while running, giving him a frantic expression. A shot can be heard behind them and Tom feels that familiar feeling of nausea falling over him like hail on a stormy day. Here we go <i>again</i>. The Germans are shooting at them again. What a surprise.</p><p>“Tom, be careful!”, Will screams, suddenly next to him. He grabs his hand and pulls him forward. Tom doesn’t reply and looks back at the two soldiers following them, rifles in the air.</p><p>“Scho! We’re done!”, he yells but Will shakes his head and stops holding Tom’s hand, instead grabbing his rifle. He stands still for a moment, pointing his rifle between the two soldiers.</p><p>“Will, you have to target one soldier, shooting between them is not going to do shit”, Tom says quickly but Will shoots anyways, quickly grabbing Tom’s hand again.</p><p>“Still not ready to kill my compatriots, Tom”, he yells.  Will’s English is so perfect, Tom keeps forgetting that he is technically one of them. And as he quickly glances back, the shot seems to have scared the two soldiers enough anyways for the two to take a left.</p><p>“Maybe we should just run into a house here before they see which direction we went!”, Tom yells, completely out of breath. Will nods, giving Tom an exhausted look and runs into the nearest house. After glancing back to see if no one watches them, Tom follows him and closes the door behind him.</p><p>“Oh God, that was close”; he breathes out, leaning himself against the door, but Will wraps his hand around Tom’s wrist and pushes him to the stairs.</p><p>“We’re not going to wait like idiots in front of the door”, Will grunts, walking down the stairs hastily. Tom bites the inside of his cheeks: Will has a point like he always does. They walk down two sets of stairs to the cave and Tom takes out his pocket lamp, inspecting the place carefully. Hopefully, there won’t be any dead soldiers on the floor this time.</p><p>It’s easy to tell that the house had belonged to a rather well off family. There are hundreds of books stored in narrow shelves, dolls and other toys lying abandoned on the ground as well as a bicycle leaned against the wall. Tom takes a little step and spots a beautiful, black piano in the corner of the room.</p><p>“Will, a piano!”, he says excitedly, turning off his pocket lamp as Will turns on a stronger light. He carefully puts the lamp back in his pocket, taking a few steps to the piano. There is a coat of dust on it, but Tom touches it carefully, enjoying the smooth texture of the wood.</p><p>“Do you know how to play?”, Tom asks, giving Will a soft smile and Will humps in his directions, sitting down with a loud growl and big grimace on the armchair in front of the piano.</p><p>“Of course. I’ve had piano lessons from the age of five. Playing an instrument is a necessary thing in the German higher society”, Will explains, opening the protective, wooden case and lets his elegant fingers brush over the keys. Tom takes a step closer, admiring Will’s posture and hands. He really is the definition of class. Upper class.</p><p>“Do you want to play me something?”, he asks with a shy smile and Will looks at him with a loving expression, but shakes his head nevertheless. Tom feels his belly tighten, that was such a stupid question-</p><p>“I’d love to but it’s probably not the smartest thing. They could hear us”, Will explains, his fingers still on the ivory keys. His gaze is on Tom and he looks up and down, a small smile on his lips.</p><p>“I’d love to play you something after the war, though. If you ever visit me in my manor”, he says instead and Tom has to put his hand on the piano to steady himself. All of a sudden, he sees himself in a big house in what he imagines to be Germany. There is a big strudel on the table - wait no, Will told him strudel is Austrian - and Will is in a beautiful, black suit sitting in front of a Steinway piano, playing a familiar melody. He’s looking at Tom, a fond expression on his face as Tom slowly sways to the music.</p><p>Too bad this will never happen.</p><p>Tom lets out a forced giggle and tries to forget the vivid image in his mind, no matter how desperately he wants it to be reality. But it’s stupid. They are not from the same country, not from the same social class- he’s delusional.</p><p>“Maybe we should try to sleep a little. Tomorrow is a long day”, Tom mutters, putting down his kit and looking at the floor. It isn’t the cleanest but there are two pillows on the little couch which is more than what they usually have. Will yawns loudly and nods, getting the two pillow and setting them on the floor next to each other. </p><p>“Sounds good. I’ll stay awake so that we don’t sleep too much”, Will quickly says, laying down.</p><p>“No, no, no! I’ll stay awake! You need to sleep, Scho!”, Tom answers with big eyes, laying down next to Schofield and turning onto his side. Already now, Will can barely keep his eyes open but Will shakes his head stubbornly.</p><p>“I said sleep, Tom”, he says sternly and Tom sighs, putting his hand on Will’s cheek.</p><p>“Stop being annoying and please close your bloody eyes? I can’t have you fall asleep on our mission tomorrow.” Will rolls his eyes dramatically, curling up, his head resting on his arm. Tom removes his hand slowly. </p><p>“Alright”, Will whispers, already half asleep and Tom smiles and sits up, looking at Will as he slowly seems to fall asleep. The wrinkles on his forehead slowly disappear and Will looks so young, nearly ethereal. Tom falls into another unrealistic daydream, in which he gets the chance to fall asleep and wake up next to Schofield every day. Will’s arm thrown over his waist, pressing soft kisses on Tom’s neck to wake him up.</p><p>“Tom”, Will mumbles barely a minute after having closed his eyes. Tom shakes his head to get out of his rather comforting daydream and looks down at Will. His eyes are wide opened again and his staring at Tom intensely.<br/>
“I can’t sleep.” Tom sits up and looks at Will more closely. His eyes are swollen and gloomy. He looks so tired; can’t he just fall asleep?</p><p>“Why?”, he decides to ask. Will sighs dramatically, rubbing his eyes before finally answering Tom’s question.</p><p>“Just the usual. I’m thinking about all the atrocities of the war and how we are destroying the world.”</p><p>“Can’t you just sleep?”, Tom asks after a moment of silence, making Will scoff in response. Does he want Tom to sing him a lullaby to help him fall asleep?</p><p>“How can I help?”, Tom decides to ask further although he does not want to sing anything for Will. Will probably has an angel’s voice and Tom is terrible at singing. He barely passed music back in school.</p><p>“I don’t know, Tom. Maybe I have to run around some more until I literally fall asleep”, he answers quietly, rolling around so that he is laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.</p><p>“Maybe you can teach me something, some more medicine?”, Tom suggests, rubbing his back. He’s pretty tired too but listening to Will speak Latin is always an astounding experience. Will looks like he’s about to shake his head, but all of a sudden a rather smug grin forms on his face.</p><p>“What about I teach you some German? That could be fun and would definitely make me think about something else”, he giggles, turning back around to Tom. Tom nods slowly, sitting down more comfortably. He has no idea how this will help Schofield sleep - it will keep him awake, that’s for sure -  but there isn’t anything Tom wouldn’t do for William. And learning German sounds fun, especially if he can use it once he visits Schof- Tom has to stop living in his absurd daydreams.</p><p>“So, first something easy. I actually have a nickname in Germany. It’s pretty stupid, but my friends call me that…”, Will starts and Tom eyes immediately light up as he scoots closer to Will.</p><p>“I am your friend! What do they call you so I can do the same?”, he asks with puppy eyes and Will licks his lips, a playful expression on his face.</p><p>“They call me <i>Meister</i>, which means something like tall friend. You know, since I’m tall”, he explains and nearly giggles. Tom doesn’t understand what is so funny and eagerly nods his head.</p><p>“Meister… That sounds cool!”, he repeats slowly and looks to Will.</p><p>“Hey, Meister!”, he greets him, making Will laugh for an inexplicable reason.</p><p>“Perfect”, Will compliments him and Tom tilts his head up for a moment. German sounds fun.</p><p>“What about ‘thank you very much’? That could be useful!”, Tom asks, now a dedicated student. He never really liked school but studying a bit of German is the funnest thing Tom has done since joining the war.</p><p>“Oh, that one is tricky”, Will starts slowly, a frown on his face.</p><p>“It’s <i>fick mich bitte</i>”, he pronounces it steadily and Tom repeats the words just as slowly. He’ll have to remember that if Will ever helps him again, which he probably will. Will picks up Tom’s water bottle and takes a sip, eyeing Tom as he repeats the words several times.</p><p>“So if I want to say ‘Thank you, Scho’, I can just say ‘Fick mich bitte, Meister’ from now on?”, Tom asks and Will barely manages to swallow the water as some drops over his chin. Is Tom’s pronunciation that bad? He’s English, after all.</p><p>“Yes, that’s great, little thing”, Will replies after a moment and slowly raises his hand, letting it brush over Tom’s cheekbone and neck, grasping Tom’s chin and tilting it down. Will is looking at him with an amused expression, but there is something else in his eyes, hidden behind the pain and joviality. A sort of hunger. But hunger for what? Tom swallows loudly and forces himself to look away.</p><p>“Anything else you want to teach me?”, he says instead, trying his best to keep his gaze from Will’s face. Will is ununderstandable, like his old math textbook. One second, Tom thinks he has finally figured Will out but the next, Will is again unsolvable and a complete mystery. Tom wishes he could take a peek at Will’s brain, just for a minute.</p><p>“Hm, maybe later. I do feel tired and now I have a lot to think about”, Schofield answers satisfied, laying down more comfortably. He stretches his arms over his head and looks at Tom with a content expression.</p><p>“You really are something else, Tom”, he says slowly, looking at Tom through his thick, golden lashes and God, this is just unfair, isn’t it? He looks perfect and Tom is just human.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m British”, he answers quickly and Will laughs angelically and brushes his hand over his little, delicate nose.</p><p>“That’s not what I meant, pumpkin”, Will hurls back with a fond smile and puts his finger against Tom’s lips before he gets the chance to complain about Will calling him <i>pumpkin</i>.</p><p>“Goodnight, wake me up if you feel tired,” Schofield says hastily and lets his finger linger on Tom’s lips for a moment longer before he finally turns around and leaves Tom alone with his ungentlemanly thoughts.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>in case you don't know german:<br/>meister: master<br/>fick me bitte: please fuck me</p><p>so Scho is a little bitch like always but he's Tom's little bitch so it's okay</p><p>i hope this chapter was alright!! it's a bit long and boring but yeah!!! Next two chapters shall be lit I AM WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER RN AND ITS BETTER</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. this kind of war proofs much easier to start than stop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tom continues his journey with the most annoying (and horniest) pilot of the German Army. </p><p>lowkey soft chapter tho!!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi! look at me updating on time like the organized student I am!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Will looks beautiful. He always does, Tom notes as he leans over him letting himself stare at Will shamelessly. He’s fast asleep and his mouth is slightly parted, snoring adorably. Will looks so innocent and at peace and Tom sighs loudly, waving his hand over William’s gorgeous face. </p><p>“Scho!”, he whispers, not wanting to wake Will up brutally as he waves his hand some more over Will’s face. Schofield doesn’t react, letting out a particularly loud - and adorable - snore. Tom decides to delicately boop his nose. </p><p>“Scho, wake up!”, he repeats, this time a bit louder. Will mutters something in his sleep and suddenly raises his hand, taking Tom’s in his. He brings it down to his chest and lets out a content sigh. </p><p>“I’m tired. Sleep”, he mumbles, intertwining his fingers with Tom’s, smiling softly as he dozes off again. Tom can feel his heart skip a beat: Will looks angelic. </p><p>“I know, Scho but we have to go save my brother”, he answers truthfully, getting his hand out of Will’s tight grip even though he wants nothing more than to hold Will’s hand for all eternity. Hopefully, someone will get the chance to do so. Tom isn’t naive enough to let himself believe that person could be him. </p><p>“Oh. The mission. Alright, baby”, Will answers, his eyes still shut and Tom’s heart nearly stops at the use of baby. Baby. <i>Baby!</i> First little thing, then pumpkin and now baby. Maybe they use those words lightly in Germany but in England, this definitely means something, and Tom’s cheeks gain a beautiful, fuchsia color. </p><p>“Yes, exactly. Get up, we need to leave Écoust”, he quickly replies, scooting away from Will. He picks up his kit, looking through his pockets as Will rubs his eyes, carefully sitting up. He looks at Tom for a moment, taking in the scenery, a familiar frown forming on his forehead. </p><p>Tom throws two cookies at Will. </p><p>“Here, eat those biscuits. I ate my part while you were asleep”, Tom explains and Will gratefully picks up a biscuit, looking at it with the same disgust as earlier. </p><p>“Oh, so that’s the munching sound that woke me up earlier?”, Will replies with a cheeky grin as Tom’s cheeks heat up again and he quickly shakes his head. </p><p>“It did not! I’m a quiet chewer!”, he defends himself. Will just laughs to himself, taking a big bite of the buttery biscuit. Hopefully, Joe is going to give them some food once they get to him because Tom is hungry, hungry for a real meal, not just two stupid cookies. </p><p>“If you say so. What exactly do we have to do once we’re at your brother’s place?”, Will asks instead. Tom rolls his eyes, the battlefield isn’t really Joseph’s <i>place</i>, but he scoots closer to Will. Carefully, Tom opens his pocket, getting out a tiny, wrinkled envelope. </p><p>“We have to give this to colonel... uh... colonel Mackenzie”, he explains, reading the colonel’s name from the envelope. Will stares at him, swallowing the last piece of cookie and carefully grabs the letter and looks at it. </p><p>“Isn’t it insane how the lives of 1600 men depends on this little piece of paper?”, he asks slowly, turning it in his hands and brushing his fingers over the delicate handwriting. </p><p>“Most events in life are dependent on little things. Look at the war, we’re here because your Kaiser made a mere, stupid promise to support Austria unconditionally”, Tom replies easily and Will’s mouth falls open, an offended expression on his face. </p><p>“Well, excuse me, Tom, but this is a <i>very</i> simplistic way of looking at the war”, he replies, crossing his arms over his chest. Tom does the same. If Will wants to debate this, he’s ready. </p><p>“Oh really? So who are you, Mister Germany, going to blame? Us?”, he challenges Schofield, raising his brows. </p><p>“Actually, yes”, Will replies and Tom scoffs loudly. How surprising. Everyone blames each other. If this isn’t the Thirty Years’ War all over again. </p><p>“Kaiser Wilhelm the second might have made it a European war, but your government made it into an intercontinental war. The English cabinet started a meeting on a Sunday afternoon with the idea of staying neutral and ended up joining the war. And look at us now, even the bloody USA joined the war”, Will explains and Tom scoffs again. Will was talking gibberish, the US didn’t even join the war-</p><p>“I’m telling you, Tom, this kind of war proofs much easier to start than stop”, Will finishes his thought and slowly nods his head. The statement sticks with Tom and he swallows loudly. No one expected the war to escalate into a worldwide conflict. Tom remembers when Joe left for the war, mom and Tom expected Joe to be back from Christmas.</p><p>It has been 3 years now.</p><p>“Scho, the US did not join the war”, Tom answers slowly and Will looks up to Tom, startled. His fingers are still brushing over the envelope as he slowly responds:</p><p>“Pumpkin, the US joined the war yesterday. How do you not know that?” Tom opens his mouth and closes it again. A smile spread over his face. This is definitely a win for England and the Allied powers.</p><p>“Oh my God, the bloody US? Scho, are you sure you don’t want to stay in the British uniform in the long run because we are definitely going to win the war”, Tom giggles happily, sticking out his tongue. Schofield just laughs rather fondly for the circumstances and shakes his head.</p><p>“You would like that, wouldn’t you? I do look rather dashing in this uniform”, he replies smugly and Tom’s pretends to look at Will with disgust. He’s not going to give him this satisfaction because Tom <i>knows</i> Will knows that he looks good. Will would look good in anything, even in a potato bag. Or nothing, too, Tom can’t help but think.</p><p>“You wish”, Tom replies and wants to grab the letter but Will holds him back and raises his hand.</p><p>“I have this tin box. It might be saver there”, Will replies and he opens his back pocket, getting out a little tin box of the same size as the letter, more or less. Tom hovers over it, looking at it with furrowed brows.</p><p>“Is this from the dead soldier? Where is that from?”, he asks but Will just shakes his head, opening the tin a little bit but at an angle that Tom can’t look inside. This is not fair.</p><p>“No, it’s mine”, Will replies easily, closing it fully and putting it back into his pocket, completely ignoring Tom’s big, widened eyes and Tom just wants to jump on him and inspect the little box. What else does Schofield store in it? Cigarettes? Letters?</p><p>“Shall we go?”, Will says instead, standing up with his usual grimace as he quickly grabs his walking stick to steady himself. These constant runs can not be good for Will’s knee. Hopefully, the Germans left Écoust by now and they can walk slowly and safely to his brother. Tom hands Will his rifle and follows him up the stairs to the main door through which they entered hours earlier. But Will stays still for a moment. Tom walks to the door instead and turns around as he feels Schofield’s gaze on him. Or not on him as a whole, Will is shamelessly staring at Tom’s -</p><p>“Scho, please”, Tom mumbles, his cheeks turning a dark pink shade as Will licks his lips contently.</p><p>“What? We might die, pumpkin, so let me at least look at what heaven should be like once more so that I know what to expect”, he replies smugly and Tom quickly turns around, crossing his arms over his tummy. His cheeks are getting even redder, Tom can feel the heat.  Will really does just say everything that crosses his mind before thinking once. Not that Tom minds. Not at all.</p><p>“You’re unbelievable, Scho”, Tom mutters under his breath and the smile on Will’s face widens further to a boyish grin.</p><p>“I would argue that your ass is unbelievable, but sure, if you say so”, he answers and humps to the door. Thank God. Tom’s cheeks were getting so hot that he was scared they were going to catch fire if Will continues looking at him in that way.</p><p>Will is about to open the door, but he turns around to Tom and his expression gets harder as he seems to finally focus.</p><p>“Just follow me as beautifully as you always do”, he says and nods to himself, turning back to the door and opens it. It’s still quite dark outside. The sun seems to have woken up with Schofield, shining shyly over Écoust. Tom follows Tom out of the house, through the empty streets. It’s calm, nearly too calm. Miller would have compared it to the Somme, Tom thinks as he walks over the empty paved street. It’s too quiet.</p><p>“Scho-“, Tom wants to warn him when a shot is heard.</p><p>“Fuck!”, Will yells, turning around as Tom decides to run for cover. The Germans are apparently still here, he guesses, doing what they know best: shooting.</p><p>“Do you guys ever do anything else but shoot?”, Tom screams as Will runs up to him, crutching down behind a wooden shelf. He looks up behind it and grabs Tom’s wrist, ignoring his question completely as he starts running once again. Some more shots can be heard but they seem far that Tom stops running for a moment, leaning himself against the wall.</p><p>“Which way, Tom?”, Will asks with urgency in his voice, his hands on Tom’s lapels, pulling him toward himself. Tom breathes out deeply and tries to remember what he saw on the map while Schofield was sleeping soundly.</p><p>“Just follow the river. It should bring us to my brother”, he answers and Will nods, starting to run again. Tom immediately follows, the shots coming closer again as well as some yelling. Sadly, Will’s German lesson did not cover what they are saying right now because Tom can’t understand anything. This means they are not screaming thank you, he thinks, slightly proud of his limited knowledge. </p><p>“Uh, which way is the river though?”, Will yells and Tom frantically raises his hands, pointing them in every direction. Another shot can be heard not too far back.</p><p>“Just run, Scho!”, Tom yells in response. Will gives him a thumbs up although there is definitely nothing “thumbs up-y” about this situation and climbs over some broken down stone. Tom does the same while looking around frantically. The river has to be somewhere! They run further and Tom exhales loudly. </p><p>A bridge.  A beautiful - not broken down - bridge over the river that should bring them to his brother. Tom exhales loudly and nearly falls onto his knees. Here they are, finally. Out of Écoust and away from the German army. Tom starts crossing the river, Will by his side.</p><p>“Soldat! Schiess!” <i>Private! Shoot!</i> Tom hears suddenly loud and clear and looks up confused. The Germans were close, yes, but not so close that Tom can hear their words clearly.</p><p>Fuck. There are other Germans and they are standing on the other side of the bridge, looking at them as they grab their rifles.  Tom can feel his mouth dry up, his knees weakening. There is no way out except-</p><p>“Tom, jump into the water”, Will hushes with exasperation. Tom hates swimming, he always has. The water is always too cold and there is no way to know what is swimming next or even <i>below</i> him But he doesn’t even get the chance to scream “no” in Will’s face as Schofield immediately quiets him.</p><p>“Tom, I would never let anything happen to you”, Schofield says softly, grabbing Tom’s hands and - Tom doesn’t understand himself but when Will looks at him with those pretty, blue eyes and that shy smile of his lips as he nervously licks his lips, Tom can’t help but believe every word Will says.</p><p>And so he jumps.</p><p>***</p><p>“Oh God, Tom, oh my God, are you okay? Oh my god, Tom, baby, oh God-“ </p><p>“Scho?”, Tom coughs, opening his eyes. It’s blurry. Everything is blurry in Tom’s mind. He remembers jumping, a stone, and a waterfall. Yes, falling down a waterfall. How is he still alive?</p><p>“Baby! My baby”, Will screams as Tom answers, grabbing Tom and hugging him as tightly as humanly possible, burying his nose in the crook of Tom’s neck, his hands roaming over Tom’s body.</p><p>“I’m alright, Scho, don’t worry”, Tom answers, coughing up a lot of water as he feels a lot of pain his nose? The back of his nose, maybe, his throat? Tom can’t explain it but it does feel terrible. Schofield’s hands softly grab his face and he stares at him deeply. His eyes are blue and shiny and Tom nearly believes they look wet from crying. But that’s Tom’s imagination, they literally just fell down a waterfall. </p><p>“Oh God, Tom, Jesus Christ, I-“, Will mumbles and Tom gives him a little smile that hurts a tiny bit because everything hurts at the moment and carefully puts his hands on Will’s cupping his face. </p><p>“My name is just Tom. Not Jesus”, he giggles, letting himself enjoy William’s warm hands. How is Schofield already fine? They fell down the waterfall together, after all. </p><p>“Hm. I mean, you did nearly pull a resurrection right now, so I don’t know if I can believe you”, he answers with a soft grin, his hands moving down Tom’s neck as he seems to slowly inspect it. He bites his inner cheek with a thoughtful expression and that sight alone was worth falling down a waterfall for. Doctor Schofield is <i>finally</i> healing him, or at least looking at him. Yes, definitely not healing him because Tom feels a weird sensation in his tummy, and all of a sudden he’s coughing up some more water, and directly onto’s Schofield’s beautiful face. Of course, Tom just has to find a way to mess up this nearly romantic moment, Tom thinks, falling back onto the grass, his eyes closed. He hears Will laugh and a moment later, he is hovering over Tom, looking at him fondly.</p><p>“Thank you for the free shower”, he giggles, slowly unbuttoning Tom’s jacket and oh- what is he doing?</p><p>“Don’t mention it”, Tom quickly replies, the embarrassment all over his face, watching Will’s hand roam over his body delicately. Schofield looks very focused as he presses down his hand on his chest, tummy, and lower back, taking in Tom completely. His touch is loving, strong, and Tom can’t help but think that they were meant to touch him. They feel like summer and thousands of butterflies, drawing patterns all over his skin. Tom closes his eyes, letting himself bask in the moment. </p><p>“I’m sorry, I don’t even know what I’m doing”, Will speaks a couple of minutes later and stops his movement, hovering over Tom again. He looks at him so intensely, with so much affection and gratitude - Tom just stares back as Schofield slowly grabs his face, brushing his thumbs over his cheeks and lips. </p><p>“I’m just glad you’re fine”, William says, one hand on his cheek as the other brushes through Tom’s damp curls. He carefully brushes them back, still staring at Tom with so much devotion that Tom might just forget how to breathe. </p><p>“You know, one reason I stuck with you back in Écoust was to make sure nothing happens to your gorgeous self and I am so glad I did”, Will whispers as Tom’s breathing hitches. Will stayed with him to keep him safe. He - why would he do such thing? That is just insane! He’s even more bloody insane than Tom himself!</p><p>“Why would you do that?”, Tom replies weakly, as Will leans further over him, a drop of water rolling from his nose and splashing onto Tom’s forehead. Will giggles, quickly brushing it away. </p><p>“The world needs more people like you, Tom. Especially in times like this”, he replies carefully and licks his perfectly, red lips and Tom can not look away no matter how hard he tries to. They look so soft, loving and Tom wonders what Will tastes like. Maybe like fresh cherries, a cold strawberry lemonade, or something else that is sweet and reminds Tom of a sunny day back home. </p><p>Tom’s gaze flickers to Will’s eyes and he stares at Will, into his beautiful ocean eyes. Tom wants to raise his hands and grab Will’s face and pull him down but he can’t. He just stares at Will as he smiles lovingly, his gaze moving to Tom’s hair. Will slowly raises his hand and carefully touches Tom’s hair, removing something of a pale pink color.</p><p>A cherry blossom.</p><p>“A flower got stuck in your hair”, Will explains with a little smile, looking at the flower in his palm. Tom sits up, coughs some more, and leans over Will’s hand, touching the blossom delicately.</p><p>“It’s a cherry blossom, like in my orchard”, he explains, a warm feeling spreading in his tummy. Tom knows it’s irrational thinking, but he can’t help believing it’s a sign from his mother. She’ll always take care of him, no matter how far away he is. Tom smiles happily.</p><p>“It’s very pretty. Just like you”, Will responds a couple of moment later, carefully dropping the flower onto the grass. Then he looks back at Tom, his eyes pale blue and glazed.</p><p>“Tom, I’m so glad you’re okay. For a moment, I thought I’d lost you”, he speaks carefully, the end of his sentence barely audible. Tom looks up with his big eyes, parting his lips lightly.</p><p>“What exactly happened?”, he asks, breathing in deeply. Tom remembers jumping and little fragments of time but the rest of the time is as confusing as Will is. Schofield carefully raises his hand, placing it on Tom’s neck.</p><p>“You jumped and before I could swim to you, you crashed right into a stone. I-I grabbed you but your eyes were closed and you didn’t react and a second later we were falling down a bloody waterfall and - I thought I’d lost you”, Will explains, his voice choking up as he speaks the last words, his fingers laying on Tom’s pulse point, as if Will can’t believe Tom’s heart is still beating. And it’s beating strongly, probably because of Will.</p><p>“You saved me”, Tom replies after a moment, melting into Will’s touch. Will smiles carefully and nods, raking his nails across Tom’s neck.</p><p>“I guess I should thank you”, Tom adds after a moment, trying his best to remember the German taught to him not that long ago. What is it again? Tom furrows his eyebrows, trying his best to remember; it’s something with f isn’t it? Tom’s eyes light up.</p><p>“Fick mich bit-“</p><p>“No need for this”, Will quickly interrupts him, placing his fingers against Tom’s lips, making Tom pout. He must really have a terrible accent for Schofield to act up every time he says something.</p><p>“As you like, Meister”, Tom replies cheekily and starts looking around him. He still has his kit, but it looks like they lost a rifle and Tom’s helmet on their journey in the river. Well, that could have been worse, Tom thinks and stretches his arm over his head.</p><p>All of a sudden, Tom drops his arms, widening his eyes, his heartbeat quickening.</p><p>Joe.</p><p>They need to save Joe! Tom quickly looks up into the sky, noticing the sun being already way too high. The birds aren’t chirping anymore, there is no cold morning breeze - A pit forms in Tom’s stomach.</p><p>“Scho, how long was I out for?”, he asks, his breathing hitching as he quickly grabs his kit throwing it on. Will crawls to him, helping him close his jacket as well as giving him his rifle. His touches are soft and loving, but Tom does not have the time to notice this now.</p><p>“I don’t know, Tom. I wasn’t at my best either”, he replies slowly, but Tom barely reacts to his words. They have to go now. Joe could be an hour away or maybe even more and- and battles start early. Without looking back at Schofield, Tom gets up and starts walking as quickly as he can. He had one job, one freaking job and that job was not to save a freaking German. No, it was - and still is - to save his brother. Joe, who taught him how to ride a bicycle. Joe, who helped him with his homework when Tom couldn’t comprehend it. Joe, his brother and best friend.</p><p>“Tom!”, Will yells as he runs behind him, grabbing him by his wrist. He forces Tom to turn around and looks at him, concern written all over his face.</p><p>“Are you okay?”, he asks softly but Tom releases himself from his tight grip. It doesn’t matter right now how he feels, Joe is all that matters.</p><p>“Joe - we need to save him”, Tom answers instead, his breathing quickening further. What is he doesn’t make it? What if this is all for nothing?</p><p>He looks up shyly to Will, and Will is looking at him with a look of determination, as if Will doesn’t doubt Tom’s word for one second. Both of them nearly died several times in the last hours, but that doesn’t matter. They made it so far and they won’t give up until they drop dead.</p><p>“Yes. We will”, Will answers with indefatigability and grabs Tom’s wrist once more, starting to march through the forest in what Tom hopes to be the direction towards his brother.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>we are FINALLY out of dumb ass Écoust oh my god</p><p>also info: Tom’s view in this is mostly like Fritz Fischer, who is ironically German, while Scho’s view is like Niall Ferguson, a Brit haha</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. where is colonel mackenzie?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Where is Colonel Mackenzie?"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello fellas ,</p><p>I am deeply sorry for the six weeks break. It wasn't planned at all but I was/am on holidays and I got a bit too lazy. I also absolutely hated writing this chapter. I am so sorry to come back with such garbage but it'll have to do because i can not read this chapter one more time lol I didn't mean to cut the chapter where it ended so sorry about that!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you hear this?”</p><p>“What?”, Tom responds, standing still for a moment. Will rolls his eyes, grabbing Tom’s wrist and pushing him further through the forest.</p><p>“You never hear anything, just like you didn’t hear the trucks. You should get your ears checked”, he complains but Tom gives him a pointed look, perking up his ears. There is some mumbling — a mixture of noises being carried by the wind.</p><p>“God, I hope these aren’t any Germans. I’ve seen enough of them for the rest of my life”, Tom whispers, carefully following Will through the bushes. The grass is high and he tries hard not to step on branches that could break under his weight.</p><p>“Well, thank you”, Will replies a little offended but Tom just rolls his eyes, keeping a lookout. Schofield should also wish for British soldiers since he is now wearing a uniform of the allied powers. Or maybe French soldiers, that would work too.</p><p>Schofield starts walking a bit quicker, finally getting onto what could be called a little path. The mumbling sound is getting louder and Will quickly grabs Tom’s hand, pulling him behind a tree. Will hides behind the same tree and hovers over Tom, his eyes narrowed. Tom’s breathing quickens - Will’s hand lays safely on his waist as Will peers through the bushes.</p><p>“Scho!”,  Tom lets out as Will scoots even closer, his hot breath fanning over Tom’s neck. Will does not seem to realize what Tom is talking about because he starts to stroke Tom’s side in a comforting manner, making Tom feel drowsy.</p><p>“Don’t worry, no one can see us from here”, Will whispers into his ear and Tom has to close his eyes and bite his lips. Before his mind can wander off and think of Will’s mouth touching his neck, the german pilot suddenly pulls away.</p><p>“Those are Brits!”, he nearly yells, giving Tom a huge smile and he starts walking through the bushes to the larger path in front of them. They take a right and suddenly, they are standing in a sea of British soldiers. Several of them are carrying large machine guns. Others are walking down carrying tripwire while the lucky ones walk empty handed, not counting their rifle and kit. Tom looks at their faces, trying to recognize them. What company is this? How far away from the second Devons are they?</p><p>Hope grows in Tom’s tummy. Maybe Joe isn’t too far away and he can help him bring the message to that Colonel Tom always forgets the name of.</p><p>“Excuse me!”, Tom exclaims, grabbing a man with ginger hair’s attention.</p><p>“Yes, son?”, the man answers, rushing to Tom’s side to let the other man pass them easily. Will walks to him, laying his hand on Tom’s shoulder.</p><p>“What company is this? We are trying to find the second Devons, sir. We <i>have</i> to find the Devons”, Tom explains to the ginger haired man, his eyes wide and pleading.</p><p>
  <i>please tell us the Devons are just around the corner please-</i>
</p><p>“We’re the Devons”, the man replies with a surprised expression and Tom opens his mouth wide in surprise, not being able to answer. They are here, that Colonel is here and Joe - Joe is here! Schofield managed to pull them out of the river just at the right place and time.</p><p>“As in the Devons under Colonel Mackenzie’s order?”, Will jumps in for him, his hand trembling on Tom’s shoulder. The ginger man nods slowly, giving them an unsure smile. Tom quickly looks up in the sky and back at the soldiers. The sun is already high up and shining brightly - weren’t they supposed to attack at dawn?<br/>“Why haven’t you gone over?”, Tom asks at the same time as Schofield yells loudly “Where is Colonel Mackenzie?” The ginger man breathes out deeply after giving Schofield a slightly started stare, pointing behind him.</p><p>“We’re the second wave and, uh, Colonel Mackenzie is down the line”, the ginger private replies and Tom nods. He wants to thank the man for his kindness but Will has once again grabbed his hand, guiding him through the people.</p><p>“We have to find Colonel Mackenzie!”, he yells, taking big steps. Tom can barely follow him - Will’s legs are more than a couple inches longer than him, trying to calm Will down.</p><p>“We will, Scho. Don’t worry, we have time.” Will turns around, giving him a stern yet frightened look.</p><p>“Tom, I don’t think you realize how long you were unconscious for. The attack could start any minute now”, Will urges him, his voice agitated. The hope Tom was feeling slowly gets replaced wit pure fear as he runs after Will, trying not to run into any soldiers.</p><p>“What are you talking about? You were hovering over me and pleading - I am sure it wasn’t that long”, Tom speaks loudly, trying to grab Schofield’s attention who is staring in front of him with a wild look in his eyes. </p><p>“I am telling you you were out for a long time. Would you just believe me, please?”, Will replies dodging the question. Tom furrows his brows as he jogs behind Will. He’ll think about Will caring about him being alive later. If Will is telling the truth, then they have no second to loose. </p><p>The path becomes narrower and slowly morphs into a trench, making Tom’s blood pressure rise. He did not miss the feeling of being caged in a dugout beneath the earth, unable to escape if shells were to explode over his head, burying him in debris. </p><p>“Scho!”, Tom yells to get the older man’s attention but Will doesn’t even look back, pushing through people to get to a man of a higher rank. He is currently giving a little motivational speech but Will doesn’t seem to care, coming to halt right in front of him.</p><p>“Where is Colonel Mackenzie?”, he screams and Tom runs to him, whispering soft sorrys to everyone in his way.</p><p>“Who the fuck are you?”, the man replies right when Tom arrives, an angry expression on his face. He looks like he’s about to send Will over no man’s land - completely alone. Tom grabs the sleeve of Will’s jacket, pulling him a couple of inches away from the man standing on a little podium.</p><p>“Sorry, sir! He didn’t mean - do you know by any chance where colonel Mackenzie is? We need to call off the attack”, Tom tries to excuse Will’s <i>gruffness</i> with a hopeful smile. But the man - he seems to be a lieutenant - doesn’t seem to change his mind.</p><p>“At the front line! Now fuck off!”, he screams, turning his back to them and continuing his speech. Tom can’t make himself listen to his empty words, quickly pushing through the soldiers again. He raises his gaze, looking around himself. The trenches are full, hundred of soldiers are marching down and Tom can feel his mouth dry out. How late was it? How much time was left for them to save his brother?</p><p>A loud ringing noise can be heard and before Tom knows what is happening, Will is running, pushing through more soldiers. The trench gets even narrower, soldiers crutching down but Will just runs, completely decided.</p><p>“Scho!”, Tom screams as he suddenly hears a loud explosion, so much closer to them than it should be. Tom loses his balance, falling onto his knees. </p><p>“The attack is about to start”, Will screams, grabbing Tom’s hand and pushing him up. Tears start to prickle in Tom’s eyes. Tom can feel blood running down his knee but now is not the time to worry about this. What if -</p><p>“Fuck, what if we don’t bloody make it?”, he yells in response but Schofield shakes his head.</p><p>“We just need to find a captain. He can call off this attack, I’m sure of that”, Will quickly replies, pushing a soldier away and making room to what seems like to be the front line. The sight freezes Tom’s blood. Hundreds of soldiers crutching down in front of what seems to be the gates to hell. Some of them have their eyes closed, their lips forming silent words - probably prayers, Tom realizes and gulps loudly.</p><p>“Fuck”, Will hisses in front of him, moving past the soldiers as Tom lets his gaze wander over the soldiers. He’s scared to see their faces, he’s scared to maybe recognize his brother and see him run over the piece of land no one shall run over.</p><p>“Seven platoon! One minute!”, A loud voice yells and Tom turns around startled, looking at the lieutenant. He’s holding a revolver up in the air, his eyes dark and empty as he watches his soldiers. Without another thought, Tom runs up to him, grabbing his shoulders.</p><p>“Sir, I have orders to stop this attack”, he yells loudly. A shell hits the trench a dozen feet away, the impact pushing Tom into the lieutenant.</p><p>“What?”, he replies, his eyes widened and nearly frightened. He looks like he wants to believe Tom but Tom can feel the hopelessness the man is feeling. Tom wants to repeat the sentence but Will pushes his out of his way, grabbing the lieutenant with both his hands. He seems to have dropped his walking stick, looking at him with crazy eyes. </p><p>“Where is Colonel Mackenzie?”, he screams loudly, debris raining over them.</p><p>“About 300 yards further down the line. Listen, you’ll have to wait till the first wave is over”, the man replies, looking down at his watch. Tom opens his mouth wide, his heart speed doubling. They can’t wait for the first wave to be over, what if Joe is in it and it’s a trap, this attack is a <i>motherfucking</i> trap-</p><p>“No! We can’t!”, Tom screams. The lieutenant gives him one empty look and turns his back to him, looking back at his men. Tom looks the other way, his walk speeding up as he looks down the line. The trench is full, overflowing with soldiers who are about to give their lives away for nothing. It’s a chaos, a mess. Another shell hits the trench a little further down and Tom abruptly stops running, his world falling apart just like the trench in front of him.</p><p>There is no way he can make it through to the Colonel in time and save his brother.</p><p>Time stops as the realization wanders through Tom’s body. He failed. He had one mission - one job - to save sixteen hundred men and he threw it away. Tom screams loudly - no real sentences, but curses and grabs his own face. Tom can feel his knees buckle as a strong hand grabs his shoulder, forcing Tom to look around.</p><p>“Blake, I hold you very dear in my heart and I’m going to do this!”, Will yells, cupping Tom’s face and staring into his eyes. Tom furrows his brows, shaking his head. There is nothing to do, it’s over.</p><p>“What the fuck are you talking about?”, Tom screams and looks at Will with a frantic expression. But Will doesn’t respond for a moment and puts one hand on the tin box in his jacket - or rather the dead British soldier’s jacket.</p><p>“I’m going to give Colonel Mackenzie the letter. You better stay the fuck here”, he screams and brushes off some specks of dust off Tom’s face. Tom feels his head getting cloudy, his fingers getting cold. Will is out of his mind. Out of his freaking mind.</p><p>“Scho, you are fucking insane! You’re not even British, they’ll kill you as soon as they figure out you’re one of them!”, he answers loudly, no one is paying attention to them anyway. But Will just shrugs and gives Tom a faint smile.</p><p>“They won’t. You said yourself that I could easily infiltrate the British Army”, he answers, reminding of a moment that happened what seems like years ago. Tom can not fully process what Will is trying to say because he already turns around, taking a few steps further into the trench. Fuck, Tom runs after him - maybe Will isn’t even going to give Colonel Mackenzie the letter, maybe he wants Germany to win and is just stopping Tom from doing what he has to do to save his brother-</p><p>“Stay safe, Tom!”, Schofield screams and all of a sudden he’s climbing up a ladder and a shell explores barely ten feet away but Schofield doesn’t even flinch, climbing up further. Tom screams Schofield’s name, slowly realizing what Will is about to do. This cannot be real.</p><p>“Lance Corporal! What the hell are you doing?!”, another voice screams and Tom starts moving, getting out of his shock induced trance. He needs to stop this bloody idiot now, Tom did not save his life for him to run straight into death a day later. And for what? To protect Tom?</p><p><i>I hold you were dear in my heart.</i> Tom hears Will's words echo in his head as he stumbles forward, trying to grab Will's jacket or just anything. He's already hurt, he should not be running and Tom holds him very dear in his heart too -</p><p>“Scho! Stop!”; he yells and tries to get to the ladder, but a group of ten soldiers pushes past him and-</p><p>“No, No, No!!!”, the same voice as before yells. Tom pushes a soldier aside and runs to the ladder but Will is gone. Will is fucking gone.</p><p>Tom’s whole world goes into slow motion. He can hear the whistle being blown, the soldiers yelling as they climb up the ladder, the shells exploding, the guns being fired. But Tom’s brain doesn’t register it as he falls onto his knees, debris raining over him. </p><p>Two of the most important people in Tom’s life are currently running over the deadliest place on earth and Tom can’t do anything. </p><p>All he can do, is wait and pray for their safety.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>updates should be more often now, I am working on two other fics atm so it might get busy but well, if you are still here, reading this then I love you as much as Scho loves Blake!! Next chapter shall be more fun because there is more loooove</p><p>love you and if you liked it or hated it, please share your thoughts &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. where are the young men?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>where are the young men?  I am talking about Dean's movie but also - in this chapter - about Joe and Schofield so let's find out if they made it</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello everyone! I hope you're all doing great</p><p>here is a little chapter for you. It was also quite hard to write as I think describing war and trenches is definitely not my forte but  I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.</p><p>thank you so much for the sweet comments last chapter! I was worried that no one was reading this fic anymore because of my looong break, but I am so glad some of you are still here &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s loud. Too loud. But Tom can’t hear anything. His eyes are wide open but Tom can’t see anything - everything is blurry, a mixture of chaos and pain. </p><p>What on earth was Will thinking when he decided to climb up the ladder to No Man’s land? Soldiers get executed for not doing this exact action and Will... Will just went over by himself with no one asking him to do so. </p><p>The ground shakes and Tom's eyes slowly follow a soldier flying against another soldier. He’s screaming in agony and if Tom’s view wasn’t as blurry, he’d see that the man is missing a leg. </p><p>But Tom can’t see, can’t comprehend the screams of pain, can’t taste the mud and dust on his tongue. He feels nothing as he falls on his knees, his eyes hollow.</p><p>Stupid, stupid Schofield. He just had to run and give his life away, didn’t he? Tom doesn’t even understand why he did it. They were too late - they fucked up and now — now, the man he just met a day ago and fell for way too quickly was probably dead.</p><p>Tom can taste acid in his mouth as his tummy churns together at the realization. Maybe he should have run after Schofield, maybe he would still be alive if Tom would have just-</p><p>“Oy, can you get out of the way? We have wounded soldiers here”, a voice with a strong Irish accent speaks and Tom feels someone grabbing his shoulder, pushing him up. What in the bloody hell in this man doing? Can’t he see that Tom is grieving?</p><p>“Yeah, you’re not one of us”, another voice adds and Tom blinks a couple of times, feeling gazes wandering all over him. What are they doing? Shouldn’t they be running across no Man’s land right now instead of worrying about one single soldier sitting on the ground?</p><p>“Yeah, get up, pal, the attack has been called off”</p><p>Tom stands up, abruptly. He grabs the man’s shoulder the closest to him and stares at him with crazy eyes. </p><p>“The attack has been called off?”, he replies gruffly. The man stares back at him, nods, slowly, and starts to talk. But Tom turns around before the man finishes his sentence, trying to find a way through the soldiers - a way to Schofield. And his brother.</p><p>His heart is skipping, his chest feels as if it will explode any minute as he pushes soldiers out of his way, his gaze scanning the faces of every soldier walking his way. Although Tom feels hope growing in him like a flower in spring, Tom tries to hold himself back and find his loved ones. This doesn’t mean that Schofield is alive - maybe they sent another soldier from another battalion on the same mission to increase the odds that the message arrives. And Joe - nothing points to him being alive. Maybe he was already dead before today and the General just lied to Tom to get him to risk his life.</p><p>Tom takes a left, spotting a man who is looking at the soldiers passing by, giving silent orders. Tom quickly counts the stripes on his jacket, running towards him.</p><p>“Lieutenant, sir, do you know Lieutenant Blake by any chance?” he asks, a similar feeling of nausea overcoming him as the man scans his face. Tom does the same, noticing traces of blood and black, gooey liquids on his face and Tom has to swallow down the acid in his mouth.</p><p>“Lieutenant Blake? Yes, I do, he was in the first wave with me”, the man replies after a moment, his voice rough and exhausted. Tom’s eyes widen in response and he nods slowly, trying to keep his composure.</p><p>“Do you know where he is now?”, he quickly asks and the man shrugs his shoulder, distracted by a wounded soldier being carried past them who seems to be missing both of his lower limbs.</p><p>“Listen, son, he could be anywhere. From walking through this trench to being taken care of in the medical tent to laying dead in the mud of no Man’s land. You’ll find out soon enough. Now go help your fellow soldiers!”, the man replies sternly, catching Tom off guard. Of course, the man is right so Tom nods and decides to continue to look for his brother. He’s sure the lieutenant would understand.</p><p>After debating going back to the front line, Tom decides to go check if Joe is by the medical tents. It seems the most fitting solution to him, Tom trying to desperately not think about the last location the lieutenant told him Joseph could be.</p><p>The voices around Tom are loud, the screams of pain nerve-wracking but Tom walks by without batting his eyes. He can’t help. All he can do is hope.</p><p>“Get his wound checked and give him some water”, Tom hears a familiar Cockney twang and turns around quickly, nearly tripping. But here he is, Joe Blake, standing tall and handsome and <i>alive</i>.</p><p>“Joe!”, Tom screams before he can hold himself back and runs to him, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. He has to get on his tiptoes to achieve this and Joe laughs, picking him up and twirling him around.</p><p>“Tom, oh my God, I can’t believe you’re really here!”, Joe replies joyfully, ruffling Tom’s hair fondly.</p><p>“You’re alive”, Tom replies breathlessly as Joe puts him back on the ground, giving him that bright smile everyone in the Blake family has.</p><p>“Of course! A battle against the Boches won’t bring me down that quickly, brother”, Joe jokes and Tom laughs exasperated, letting himself enjoy the sight of his brother and all the little details he missed so dearly. His shiny green eyes, that one beauty spot on his cheek — it’s been too long. Way too long.</p><p>“Although I do have your friend to thank for that”, Joe adds a moment later and Tom lets out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding.</p><p>“Schofield?”, he replies to make sure and Joe nods slowly.</p><p>“Yes. Or did you come with a couple of other friends?”, he replies, a tiny smile on his lips that Tom missed way too much for his own good. That mischievous smile Joe always gave him when they sneaked out to go to the fair.</p><p>“God, I’m glad he’s fine. I’m glad you’re fine”, Tom answers and wraps his arms around Joe once again. Joe hums a quiet “me too” and pats his back lovingly and Tom lets himself close his eyes for a moment.</p><p>“Where’s Scho?”, Tom asks after getting out to Joe’s tight hug, Joe giving him a bright smile. Tom’s feelings are all over the place. Will running away, making it, Joe being here - one more thing and Tom is going to faint, he’s sure of that. </p><p>“He went to sit down behind that tree”, Joe replies, pointing to a beautiful, large tree. </p><p>“Can you bring him by the medical tent later? I think he’s hurt”, he adds and Tom nods, taking Joe’s hand in his for a moment. How much he had missed his brother. </p><p>“Of course!”, he speaks and Joe gives him a gentle smile and turns around. He quickly walks to a wounded soldier, examining his chest. They’ll talk later. Tom knows that it’s not the right time right now. Tom takes a couple of steps through the knee-high grass and approaches William from behind. He’s leaning against the tree, looking at a picture. Carefully, Tom steps a bit closer, trying not to scare Will too much. He seems very deep in his thoughts. </p><p>“Jesus Christ, Will. You’re bloody insane”, Tom greets him as he sits down, looking at Will. A soft smile ghosts over Schofield’s face. </p><p>“That makes two of us”, he answers, raising his gaze from the picture to Tom. Tom sighs loudly, William is completely right: they are both a little bit crazy. </p><p>Tom shakes his head, looking at Schofield with big eyes. </p><p>“But running over no man’s land is next level crazy. And that Colonel.  What if he would have figured out you’re not one of us? You’d be dead now!”, he argues, making Will chuckle. There are crinkles around his eyes and Tom wants to touch them, even them out. </p><p>“It was worth it though. Your brother survived and so did many other men. And Mackenzie didn’t suspect anything. He just shared a couple of deep thoughts with me and told me to fuck off”, Schofield answers gently. He’s right, of course. Just like Tom was right to save his life. After all, saving a life was worth every trouble in the world. Tom sighs loudly and Will scoots a little closer, giving him a tentative smile.</p><p>“I’m not made out of glass, Tom. I knew I’d survive”, he says slowly and Tom rolls his eyes dramatically, scrunching his nose.</p><p>“That’s exactly the problem, Scho! You’re made out of flesh and blood and if a bullet-“ Tom takes a deep breath, looking at Will deeply, “if a bullet would have come your way, you would have died.”</p><p>Will just shrugs, rubbing his finger over the image in his hand delicately. Tom feels an urge to grab him and yell at him and his perfect self and his stupid decisions but instead, Tom closes his eyes for a moment. Will and Joe did survive and that is all that matters right now.</p><p>“What’s on the picture?”, Tom decides to switch the topic of the conversation, as always too curious. Curious as a cat, his mom would say. </p><p>“Oh! My nieces!”, Schofield replies with a sheepish smile, turning the picture to Tom so that he can look at it. Two beautiful girls are smiling at him. Their eyes are of a deep black color and their dark hair tamed into beautiful French braids. </p><p>“That’s Mary”, Will points at the taller girl, “and Jane.”</p><p>“Mary... Jane”, Tom replies with a little smile, brushing his finger carefully over the picture. </p><p>“They are beautiful.”</p><p>“I know! Real, little princesses”, Will chuckles fondly, looking at the picture one more time before putting it back in the tin. Then, he carefully takes out a second one and shows it to Tom. This time, it’s a young woman. Just like the girls, her eyes are as mesmerizing as the sunrise, her hair black as ebony. </p><p>“That’s Klara. My sister”, he explains with a loving smile. Tom nods, moving closer to Will. They look so different; like the night and the day while Tom and Joe look nearly the same. </p><p>“She’s also very stunning”, Tom grins, getting an enthusiastic smile from William in response. He seems to love them so much. Tom is glad that they might be able to reunite even after all the traumatic events that happened in the last 24 hours. </p><p>“Of course. She’s a Schofield, after all”, Will jokes, winking a Tom. Tom can feel his cheeks heat up, Will definitely isn’t wrong. His whole family seems to be blessed with perfect genes. Klara is incredibly beautiful and don’t get Tom started on Will because he’s definitely the prettiest man Tom has ever seen. </p><p>“She’d be even prettier if she was a Blake”, he teases as Will puts the picture back carefully into the tiny tin box. </p><p>“You wish”, Will replies with a grin as they fall into a comfortable silence. </p><p>“How’s your leg?”, Tom suddenly remembers, leaning over Will. He carefully raises his hand, softly touching Will‘s thigh and stares at it. It doesn’t look too good; the wound is wide open and fresh blood is running down Will‘s thigh. Tom makes a little grimace and shudders. </p><p>„It hurts“, Will chuckles, looking at it too. He lays his hand on top of Tom‘s, squeezing it. </p><p>„You shouldn’t have run, Will. That was so stupid“, Tom replies, shaking his head. How did Will even run in the first place? The wound looks awful and extremely painful. </p><p>“I know but... I had to save you, Tom. And you know, once adrenaline starts traveling through your arteries and veins... you don’t feel the pain anymore. Everything short circuits and all you can think about is surviving and saving your loved ones”, Will explains with a tiny smile. Tom can’t help but stare up to Will, his eyes wide and innocent. Did Schofield just call him <i>his</i> loved one? Tom’s heart feels as if it will jump out of his chest any moment and he quickly swallows, removing his hand from Will’s. He searches for Will’s gaze and licks over his lips, staring at the beautiful, way too brave men fondly.</p><p>“Just… promise me you won’t ever do this again”, he mumbles quietly and Schofield smiles, wrapping his arms around his side and pulls him close. Tom melts into the touch and leans his head against Will’s shoulder.</p><p>“How many more delivery missions do you expect us to have together in the near future?”, Will laughs and Tom jokingly hits his arms, rolling his eyes while mumbling Schofield’s name with reddened cheeks. Will gives him a cheeky smile but it quickly turns serious as he pulls Tom even closer to himself.</p><p>“But if you are talking about me doing anything to keep you alive… then I can’t promise that”, Schofield adds, his voice tender as he looks at Tom with his pale blue eyes, an earnest smile ghosting over his lips.</p><p>“I would do it over again and again. You’re a <i>light</i>, Tom, a shimmering light of positivity in this dark and atrocious war and I would do anything - and I mean anything - to keep your flame alive.”</p><p>Schofield brushes his hands through Tom’s hair so softly and Tom is out of words. He just stares up in those gorgeous eyes, his lips parting lightly.</p><p>The world is falling apart around them, but here, in Schofield’s arms, his loving gaze on him, Tom feels the safest he’s ever been.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>the names Maryjane is from the lovely @schrijverr and it made me laugh so hard happy 420 everyone like 4 months late!!!</p><p>idk if u noticed gzys but romance is abt to make a comeback into this story hehe</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>feedback is very appreciated 🥺🥺 and kudos too 💕💓</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>